Someday
by Gunpowder Green Tea
Summary: After Ed colapses under suspicious circomstances there are more questions than he can comprehend. Al has been reterned to his body but at what cost to Ed? Ed X Win other pairing undecided
1. Chapter 1

_(Lyrics in italics.)_

Summery: Al has his body back but at a price greater than he can imagine and that only Ed knows about. (Note that this is an alternate ending fic. 1st chap is singfic)

I don't own someday by Nickelback. Also, I don't use all of the song.

Note: In this chapter you come in part way through. There is a reason for this however. All you need to know is that only the first chapter is a songfic and that this is a different ending from the anime. Al has his body back but something else has gone wrong. The rest

you find out as you read the story.

Chapter 1 

Ed sat outside the small room he and Al had rented at the inn. Hesitating at the door, debating whether to enter or not. He had the plan set in his head but putting it into action was more difficult than even he had anticipated. He hung his head and sighed. With any luck Al would be asleep by the time he got the note he wouldn't be able to stop him. He wouldn't put his younger brother in danger anymore. He had messed up Al's life enough as it was. He shouldn't have to deal with this as well. Ed had kept his word. He had gotten Al his body back. But for now it would be best, he had decided, if he just faded away. He had started planning this as soon as he had made the discovery.

**Ed's point of view**

_How the hell did we wind up like this? _

Even though I know what happened I still ask myself this question more than is probably healthy. How did our lives get so twisted? People have asked me about all the things we've done. I can't answer them. Hell, I wish some one would explain it to me. Then my life might make a little more sense.

Why weren't we able 

_To see the signs that we missed _

_And try to turn the tables _

We? Al saw what might happen. Yet he still payed the bigger price. While all I lost was my leg, and then my arm bringing him back. He lost his whole body.

Al clenched his now-human fist as he sat at the edge of his neatly made bed and stared at the wood floor. He and Ed had had yet another argument. It seemed as if they argued at least once a day now. He knew there was something wrong with his brother. Yes, they had argued before, but not like this. It was almost like Ed wanted Al to hate him, Al reflected.

'Right now I'd give up having my body back just to have things go back to how they were before and to have brother tell me what's wrong.' Al glared at Ed's neatly packed suitcase. That had been what started it. He thought back on the fight they'd had before Ed had stormed the room, leaving Al frustrated, confused and hurt.

Flashback 

"Brother? Why is your suitcase packed? You said we were going to stay here for a few more days." Al asked cautiously. Ed had been distant and unpredictable lately and Al didn't want to start yet another quarrel with his brother. Ed sat in a chair facing a window between the two beds. He didn't turn to face Al, only clenched his fists as if trying to control his temper.

"_I wish you'd unclench your fists _

_And unpack your suitcase" _Al voiced his thoughts meekly.

"Why do you care?" Ed asked, his voice tight. He continued to look out the window. It looked almost like if he looked at his younger brother his carefully maintained control would snap.

"_Lately there's been too much of this." _Al replied his voice firmer. He walked over to Ed and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Please brother. We've never fought this much before. Please…tell me what's wrong." His voice was pleading.Ed shrugged Al hand off his shoulder and looked at the floor.

"_Don't think its too late"_ He heard Ed whisper to himself." I can't…" he whispered even more quietly. He closed his eyes, stood up and turned to face his brother.

"Leave me alone Al. All you ever do is pester me. Would you shut up? I'm tired of hearing you whine. I don't need or want your help so bug off." With that he walk purposefully towards the door.

"Brother…please…talk to me…" Al pleaded again 

"_Nothing's wrong _

_just as long as _

_you know that someday I will" _He barely heard Ed and was sure that Ed hadn't realized he had said it out loud. With that Ed stormed from the room.

end flashback 

Ed's whispered words still puzzled him. Al sagged and lay down. Perhaps some sleep would help.

'Well, now or never.' Ed thought and opened the door only to see Al asleep on one of the beds.

'_Someday, somehow _

_gonna make it all right but not right now _

_I know you're wondering when _

_Someday, somehow _

_gonna make it all right but not right now _

_I know you're wondering when'_

Ed looked at Al sadly. He would miss his brother but Ed saw no other choice. He sighed and found a sheet of paper and a pen before beginning to write the note he planned to leave for Al.

Every so often he would cough or wheeze but he finished his note several minutes later. Just as he signed his name he broke into a massive coughing fit. He crouched on the ground as his body shook both from the coughing and from cold. He saw blood on the floor and felt it drip from his mouth.

'Shit' he thought, eyes widening. Ed could see Al starting to stir, disturbed by the deep dry cough he was emitting. Not only would Al see him, he would see the small puddle of blood on the ground. He wouldn't be able to lie his way out of this.

He tried to control the coughing but as he got less and less air and started to feel colder and colder he found himself caring less. As his head hit the floor one last coherent thought went through his head.

'Please forgive me…'

Al woke to the sound of coughing and lazily he looked for the source of the sound before hearing a soft thump and then silence. He rubbed his eyes and looked around the room before his gaze stopped on Ed's prone figure. His eyes widened as he took in the image. 

He lay there, eyes closed and shivering slightly. There was blood running down his chin, coming from his mouth and a sheet of white paper was clutched tightly in his hand.

"Brother!" he rushed towards Ed and turned him on to his back and shook his shoulders, half-hoping it was a joke. He ran out of the room and down the stairs to the main room of the in, tears coursing down his face. He burst into the room and cried "Please, help! My brother! He needs help!"

A group of four stood and started issuing order. The leader of the group, a middle-aged red haired woman ordered the innkeeper to phone for an ambulance before ordering him to lead them to his brother.

They ran up the stairs and through the open door before clustering around him. The rest was a blur of yelling and sirens as Al cried silently.

After Ed had been loaded into the ambulance the blond woman from before turned to him and handed the piece of paper Ed had been holding to him.

"He was holding this. Your Al right?" she spoke calmly and evenly. She reminded him of Izumi in a way. He nodded and she gave him a sympathetic look before saying. "You can ride in the ambulance with him if you hurry. They're loading him in now." And then walk away. He ran from the inn, to the street and explained that it was his brother they were loading into the ambulance. He was hustled inside to vehicle and shoved into a corner. He looked at his hands and noticed that he still held the note.

"Might as well read it." He muttered and unfolded the paper. It read:

Hey Al. 

By the time you read this I'll hopefully be long gone. I know you won't understand why I left and I'm not going to explain. I can't tell you how long I'll be gone or where I'll be as I'm not sure myself but I can tell you this. I'll see you again eventually. I'll come back. I promise

_Nothing's wrong _

_just as long as _

_you know that someday I will _

Originally I was planning to make you hate me so you wouldn't want me to come back. It would have been easier on you. That's why I've been acting like I have. For that I apologies. But you know me too well. I couldn't fool you. 

_Someday, somehow _

_gonna make it all right but not right now _

I know you're wondering when 

_Someday, somehow _

_gonna make it all right but not right now _

_I know you're wondering when _

I'll miss you Al. See you when I get back.

Your brother, Edward.

P.S. Please forgive me for leaving like this but I can't have you following my. Sorry Al.

Fresh tears ran down Al's face.

'Your so stupid brother. I already told you. I could never hate you.' He looked at Ed. There were wires hooking him to strange devices Al couldn't identify. He was still unconscious, though to Al's relief his breathing was even, partly thanks to the oxygen mask covering his mouth. Al moved to sit next to his brother and held his hand before falling asleep. One hand gripping Ed's note the other wrapped around his brother's hand, as if afraid that if he let go he'd try to leave again.

Fin

End of ch.1!

Don't worry you do find out what happened to Ed and how Al got his body back. I t is all revealed later. Anyway. I'll probably post the next chapter in the next week or so. R&R please! I'll give cyber muffins to the first person that reviews!


	2. Chapter 2

Hey every one! Arigato to every one who reviewed! 

**Sidhe3141 **-Yay! You were the first to review! Arigato! Cyber muffins to you! I am planning on having RoyRiza (just forgot to put it in the summery) As for AlMarta, though I like this pairing I'm not sure if I'll include it or not yet.

FullmetalChibi - Thank you! Here's an update for you! Cruel Angel - Thank you! 

**.x.LookToTheStars.x. **-Thank you! Here's the next chapter. I hope you like what I have planned for this story.

Alchemist Neko-chan –Thank you! Here's the second chapter! 

Al woke up to the sound of a soft but persistent voice.

"Sir? Sir? I'm sorry but you need to wake up sir." As Al opened his eyes he saw a young, dark haired woman in a nurses outfit standing beside him.

'Wait. A nurse? Am I in a hospital? Why would I be in a…' his thoughts trailed off as memories of the previous day came flooding back.

"Brother!" He called out, suddenly sitting strait. He looked up at the now rather irritated nurse. "Please, where's my brother?" he asked, a note of pleading in his voice.

"Your brother is asleep, right here." The nurse pointed to the hospital bed that sat next to the chair Alphonse currently occupied. "Now if you don't mind sir, visiting hours are over. I'm going to have to ask you to leave and come back in the morning."

I'm not leaving my brother." He looked down, clenching his fists. His there was something wrong with his brother and he wasn't going to leave unless his brother was coming with him. He didn't even want to think about what Ed's note had said.

The nurse sighed. "I'm sorry sir, but you have to leave. You can come back in the morning. Nothing is going to happen to your brother while you're gone."

Al was enough like his brother to be amazingly stubborn on occasions. Now was one of those times. He glared fiercely up at the nurse," I'm not leaving," he nearly yelled.

"I'm sorry sir but your going to have to leave." She said wearily.

"Now miss, surely it wouldn't be to harmful for the boy to stay." Al looked toward the source of the new voice, an older doctor with graying hair that had, apparently, come in while Al was busy arguing with the nurse "He's obviously very worried about his brother. As long as he's willing to alert the night nurse should anything change I see no reason why he can't stay."

The nurse sighed "yes sir" Now if you don't mind, my shift is over. I'm going home to bed. The doctor smiled at Al. Now, if anything changes, go to the nurses' station. It's just around the corner. The nurses will be making hourly rounds though, so you won't be on your own." He patted Al's shoulder and left.

Al sighed and turned to look at Ed's unconscious form. 'Brother… What have you gotten into now? Could have something to do with… No. Brother said that there were no side effects. It was a balanced equation. It couldn't have anything to do with that.'

As the hours passed, Al sat by Ed's bedside, silently waiting for his brother to wake up. The only way for Al to know how much time had passed was by the nurses that came by every hour. So far he had sat through four nurses checking on Ed and he guessed it was some time just after three in the morning. And though nothing had changed for the worse, it had not changed for the better either. Al sat there, seemingly lost in thought, by Ed's bed. All he could do was hope his brother would wake up for only then would the many questions swirling about his head subside.

To Al, nothing at the moment made sense. He glared down at his hands and allowed his mind to wander. That is, until he quiet coughing from the bed beside him. He looked up suddenly, taking in his brother's form. Al sat his brother up as the coughing fit subsided.

"Al?" Ed's hoarse voice pierced the quiet of the room.

"Brother!" Al cried, looking at his now conscious sibling. "You're awake!" Ed smiled weakly. This wasn't good. If he was in the hospital it meant that his attempted escape hadn't worked. This would lead to endless questions. Questions, that while he knew the answers, he couldn't respond to.

"Brother, what happened? Why…" Al trailed off as Ed looked away guiltily.

"Al…Al I…"He trailed off." I can't…"he sighed. He couldn't lie to his brother.

"You what Ed?" Al said, shaking slightly. After all that happened, his brother was going to try to hide it from him?

"Al…" Ed pleaded. He didn't want to fight with Al right now.

"No Ed. You're not going to keep it from me. I don't care what you say." Al yelled.

Ed sat up "I'm not getting you involved!" he let out a cough." I promised myself I wouldn't get you in-" he broke out coughing. Unable to stop he started wheezing, no longer getting any air. Al panicked, and looked around for a way to help. His eyes rested on the oxygen tank next to the bed. Thinking back he remembered the oxygen mask that had been placed over his brother's airway to help him breath in the ambulance, he grabbed the mask and placed it over his brother's face. Ed greedily gulped in the air. Eventually he could breath on his own and pushed away the oxygen mask. Ed collapsed back onto the pillow.HHHHhdlnlhhhh

Al staggered back 'H-he could have died… I almost killed him. If I hadn't been arguing with him it wouldn't have happened.'

"O-oh god…" Al collapsed into the chair.

"Al? Hey it's okay…" Ed laughed nervously

That's when Al did something he hadn't done in five long years.

He cried


	3. Chapter 3

Oh My God. I love you people! 13 reviews! THANK YOU! (faints)

Blood Thirst: First off I'd like to thank you for telling me what I did wrong rather than flaming me. Second, my god you're observant! I hadn't noticed the hair thing. I'll go back and change that. As for Al crying, I don't remember him crying after he was attached to the armor. If he does, I'm sorry. I'll go back and change that as well. Please feel free to e-mail me with any other inaccuracies I accidentally include and thank you again for not flaming me.

AlChEmyOtAkU4EvEr: thanks

FaLlEn-AnGeL627: thank you

angelic lily: I know it's sad. It will get a bit better and no Ed will not die. I like him too much for that.

girlgoneanime: Thank you!

ChibiAzn3: Thanks!

Dragon Alchemist 896: loll thank you for the review. Here's an update for you.

Fullmetal Chili: here's an update. Thanks for the review.

This chapter took me a while. Sorry about that. I just finished midterms so I've been busy. This chapter may be a bit short.

R & R please!

Al had cried himself to sleep, clinging to Ed's auto mail arm. Ed had been sitting there, rubbing Al's back soothingly for almost an hour, thinking. Would Al want an explanation? Even if he didn't ask about what happened, the doctors would. This was not a sickness they wouldn't recognize and he wasn't about to explain. Still, how would he explain an unheard of disease?

Ed heard the footsteps of someone entering the room. Looking up he saw a young nurse walking towards him, looking rather shocked.

"S-sir, are you all right?" she voiced uncertainly.

Ed shrugged. "I guess. I kinda want to get out of here." The nurse seemed completely shocked that he was awake.

"I'll go get the d-doctor so he can inform you of what we know so far." She stuttered before rushing out the door. 'Well, if the doc's coming I better wake up Al.' Ed shook Al's form lightly.

"Al. Al, time to wake up." He whispered. Al stirring slightly. "Al, you gotta wake up now." Al finally sat up and blinked.

"Brother?"

"Hey Al. The doctor's coming down. Apparently they have some information." Ed smirked

"That's right." Said a deep, friendly voice. Ed and Al looked towards the door of the room and saw the doctor from the evening before. He walked over to the bed Edward currently occupied. "Now, we don't know much as of yet but what we do know…" he trailed off.

"To tell you the truth, we haven't run into anything like this before so we can't exactly treat it." The doctor stated uncertainly

'Well, not much of a surprise there. Of course they don't recognize it.' Ed thought.

"Wait, you mean that my brother almost died and you can't do anything?" Al questioned, looking furious. He glared at the doctor. "You mean we came here to find out what's wrong and you aren't going to help him." He looked as if he wanted nothing more than to give the doctor a black eye.

"Al." Ed stated firmly. "Calm down. They can't do anything." He added, placing a hand on his younger siblings shoulder in an effort to placate him.

"Brother, they're not going to treat you brother!" His gaze shifted to his brother, worry etched into his features.

"I know Al. They can't treat me if they don't know what's wrong. It could make it worse." Ed explained. Being, for once the voice of reason. Al sagged. Ed looked up at the doctor. "I guess I'll be leaving later today."

The doctor spluttered. "L-leaving? But yo-"

Ed interrupted "There is nothing you can do to treat me. All I'll accomplish by staying here is wasting time." Ed grimaced. "Besides, if we don't get back to central soon the Colonel's gonna kill me!" Ed sighed. "Hey doc, what time is it?"

The doctor stood there shocked for a second before glancing down at his watch. "Umm…it's about 6:30 in the morning."

Ed blanched. "Crap!" he sighed. And hopped out of bed. "Come on Al. If we're lucky we can catch a train to Central and avoid the Colonel spazzing on us. Ed grabbed his clothes from were they had been left, folded neatly, on a chair next to the one Al had previously occupied. He looked up at the doctor's shocked face.

"W-wait! Young man! You can't just go running off. You two interrupted me before I could finish but, whatever it is you're infected with, it wasn't completely active before." The doctor sighed. "It's completely active now and attacking you immune system full force."

Ed shrugged. "I'll be fine. Sorry doc, but I gotta go. I won't let this beat me. Besides, I don't get to Central soon the Colonel gonna roast me." He chuckled before leaving to go change.

The doctor turned to Al, a look of pleading on his face. "Please, you're his brother aren't you? Surely you can convince him…" Al shrugged.

"I doubt it. I've been trying to convince him for years to stop pushing himself so hard. Look how much impact that had. With him, once he's decided on something it takes a lot to convince him to do otherwise. He's stubborn that way." he chuckled. "The best thing we can do is make sure he doesn't end up killing himself working to hard."

"Hey Al! You ready to go yet?" Ed called, now back in his usual atire.

Al grinned. "You bet!"

Ed ran to catch up with his younger brother. "Than let's get going!" Ed grinned, coughing lightly. Al grinned back at his older sibbling and walked towards the door. "See ya doc!" Ed waved before joining Al outside.

The doctor sighed. Somehow, he didn't think he'd seen the last of those two…

A/N: hey every one. Sorry I didn't upate sooner. Thank you for all the reviews! Please R&R. 


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 3

Hey everyone. I know it doesn't make sense for Ed to be up that fast. I planned out this way for a reason so just bare with me. It will make sense...eventually. Some of it will be explained in this chapie. Enjoy. Oh, and PLEASE review (cries) I live off reviews. Without reviews, I die. Thanks to the 4 people who reviewed last chapie. This chapter is dedicated to you! THANK YOU!

Oh, just a note, I had to use a program with no spell check so my spelling might suck. I'll come and edit it later though. Please feel free to point out any spelling errors I made. Just please don't flame. Anyway enjoy the next chapter!

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Ed grimaced once he got in the small bathroom on the train to Central. He didn't like lying to Al, but for this to work he would have to. 'Great. From one lie to another.' His body sagged as he ran a hand through slightly messy blond hair. Hopefully this would all be over soon. He bent over slightly as a coughing fit racked his, regrettably small form. As it passed he plastered a smile on his face and excited the bathroom.

--------------------------------------------------------

Al knew something was up. Even if it was Ed he was talking about, no one could recover that quickly. Not from some serious, unknown disease. What was Ed hiding now? He let out a small sigh. He would get some answers. Even if he had to strap his brother into a chair to do so. He was tired of waiting for Ed explanation.

"Hey Al. You up for a game of card before we get to Central?' Ed grinned

"Brother." Uh oh. Ed knew that voice. That was the "I-want-answers-now-dammit-and-your-going-to-give-them-to-me' voice. He'd used that voice ever since they were kids, whenever Ed had tried to avoid talking about something. So far he had been successful at prying the information of Ed every time. No matter how hard Ed tried to stop it. He suppressed a sigh. This probably wasn't going to end well.

"Ya Al? Something wrong?"

Al gave him a look that clearly said that Ed knew very well what he wanted. Ed shrugged and chuckled, a nervous edge to his voice.

"Brother. I want to know what happened. Starting with how you got sick and how you got better so fast." the tone left no tone for argument and Ed's attempt at a smile faded. 'Crap'

"Well..." Ed trailed off, trying to think of a way to divert his younger sibling attention. It might be best to tell him at least part of what happened. At least that way he'd be satisfied. Temporarily at least. "What do you know?"

Al was beyond frustrated the moment, and, as far as he was concerned, with good reason. So far his brother had tried to run away, collapsed and ended up in the hospital, found out he had some unknown disease and was somehow ok and through out all this he had yet to tell Al anything.

"That you know how you got this disease and aren't telling Me." he replied

Ed let out a sigh and slumped forward in his seat. "It came from the stone."

Al blanched. The stone? He had thought the transmutation had worked properly. This didn't make any sense. He and Ed had worked for months on the formulas and equations they had used in the transmutation. They couldn't have been wrong!

"Th-the stone?" he questioned hesitantly. "Something was wrong with the equations? How could that be? We double-checked everything. Nothing should have gone wrong!" Another thing that had happened to his brother that he had been responsible for. If he hadn't been returned to his old body Ed wouldn't be sick. It was his fault.

"There was nothing wrong with the calculations. If there were it wouldn't have worked and we'd both be dead. You know that. It was a side effect that I knew might happen. I accepted it." he shrugged looking away. He knew Al would be angry that he had known it might happen and gone through with it anyway but it had been something he had to do. Apparently even with the stone, there still had to be something sacrificed.

"Wait, you knew this might happen and you went through with it anyway? Why? Why did you do something so stupid?" Al demanded. How could he have kept something this important from him?

"Would you have gone through with the transmutation if you had known?" Ed asked quietly. At 17 he had calmed down a bit (though he still dislike being called short.)

"Of course not! You could die! There's no way I would have agreed if you had told me you could be affected!" Al was yelling know and for once he was glad he had been promoted from major to Lt. Colonel as it gave them a private car and meant that there would be no unwanted listeners.

"Exactly. You wouldn't have gone through with it. This way, you have your body back." Ed replied, still remarkably calm.

"You...I..." Al stammered, trailing off.

Ed turned to look out the window, effectively ending the conversation. 'Crap. I said more than I meant to. At least this way he wont ask me about it for a while. Still...I'm going to have to careful not to let much more information slip. I need to get that information, and that's not gonna happen if they find out I'm sick.'

The remainder of the ride to Central was spent in silence, both brothers having more than enough to think about. This was one of the many times he wished they didn't have a private car, as it was far to tense for Ed's liking.

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A/N: yes, I know it's short but I made the mistake of attempting to have a social life so I'm going to be busy for the next week or so. Also, I wanted to update ASAP so, I had to sacrifice a bit of length. Sorry. The next one will be longer to make up for it.

_Just in case you missed it, I included some semi-important information. _

1. Ed is now a Lt. Colonel You'll find out why later.

2. Ed is now 17, making Al 16. I realized I forgot to say how old they were. Sorry about that.

Anyway, thanks for reading and please review! I'll give you candy!


	5. Chapter 5

Hey everyone! Here's chapter 5. I went back and edited chapter 4 too. God, so many mistakes. Guess that's happens when you write till midnight… -.-' Oh well. Here are the review responses to chapter 3 & 4.

Ch.3

**ChibiAzn3** -Thanks for the review. I'm glad you like the story.

**Thyana – **lol. No Ed is not going to die. I like to mess with his life too much to kill him off at this point.

**PsycoNeko15 **– I know the disease seems a lot like AIDS. I didn't really notice till about mid-way through writing ch.2 (I know, I'm an idiot). Thanks for the review!

**silent:tears:fall **– Thank you! Please keep reading.

**angelic lily **– Here's another update!

Ch.4

**angelic lily – **Thanks for reviewing again!

**PsychoNeko15 –** Here's chapter 5 for you!

**AngelOfTheRain –** Here's an update!

**ChibiAzn3 – **You'll see…

**SpiritAnime –** Thank you!

**Naru-Rin –** (sweatdrop) sorry about the error. My computer is evil and occasionally deletes random words. I went back and changed it though. Thank you for the candy!

**Achillea –** Thank you so much! It's really flattering to know that you like to read my fic even though it's not naruto. Please keep reading!

**Pride** – Thank you! Here's the next chapter for you!

**Zankoku na Tenshi no Tsubasa –** Here you go!

Here's the next chapie! Mustang finally comes in! Yay! Anyway, enjoy. Please review!

After a rather ocword train ride to Central, the two brothers stepped off the train, each dutifully avoiding the others eyes. 'I can't stand this anymore! It's to tense!' Ed though furiously. Finally, the elder Elric let out a sigh before glancing towards Al.

"We better find a hotel or something. We can talk to the Bastard in the morning. I'm exhausted!" Ed mentally crossed his fingers that Al would reply. He couldn't stand the quiet anymore.

"Good idea. The ride to Central took longer than I thought it would." Al fully intended to approach his brother about their talk on the train. He didn't like being kept in the dark, but mentioning his brother's failing health where anyone could overhear didn't seam like the brightest of ideas. Not only did they have to watch out for the many people who seemed rather intent on killing them, but after Al had been returned to his body, the brothers had remained in Central for a while. Needless to say, two good looking and single brother's had not gone unnoticed by the female portion of the population. Eventually a small fan club dedicated to them sprouted up. Hence the reason they had started traveling again. The two may have been geniuses but neither had much luck dealing with fan girls.

"Let's get going Al" Ed muttered before walking in the general direction of a hotel, Al following closely behind.

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Somehow once they'd reached the hotel, Ed had managed to claim a bed and curl up, looking not unlike a cat and fell asleep almost instantly.

Now that Al had his body back he treasured things like food and sleep, all the things he couldn't experience while he was in the suit of armor. Yet somehow sleep eluded him at the moment. Perhaps it was the stress of all that had happened in the past couple of days. Perhaps it was the conversation he's had with his brother on the train. Perhaps it was both of these things, but either way, he was wide-awake and watching his brother sleep, making sure he kept breathing. Making sure he didn't slip away like everyone else in Alphonse's family had.

'What's happening to you brother? Why won't you tell me anything? Why won't you let me help you?' Al pondered desperately. Thinking back to that night.

Flashback

They had chosen an old abandoned church for the transmutation. Both for the space it provided for the array, and for the reassurance that no one would walk in on the transmutation. The array was already drawn on the worn wood floor with Al positioned in the middle. Ed sat near the edge, positioned in a smaller transmutation circle of his, a small glittering crystal clasped in his hands.

"Ok Al. When I start the transmutation your probably gonna pass out. Sop don't worry if that happens, it's normal. If this works, when you wake up you'll have your body back." Ed nodded to himself before closing his eyes and placing his hands, still grasping the stone, on the edge of the transmutation circles. Right where his connected to Al's. Suddenly a wave of tiredness hit Al. Something he hadn't experienced since before their last disastrous attempt at human alchemy, before everything went black.

When all woke up the first thing he noticed was his blaring headache. The second thing he noticed was lack of clothing and his sudden need for it. Slowly he sat up and noticed Ed hunched over nearby. Ed carefully looked up. When his gaze landed on his now completely human brother he broke out in a tired smile.

"Al." Ed stood up and removed his read jacket before walking over to Al and handing it to him. Al blinked as he finally realized what had happened. He looked up at his brother and smiled. He was human again.

end flashback

He had no idea what had happened while he had been unconscious though he presumed that that was when his brother had done whatever it was that hade made him so sick. Al sighed. If they were going to meet with Colonel Mustang in the morning he should probably try to get some sleep. He'd question his brother on what had happened in the morning. Knowing Ed, it would take a lot to get the information out of him.

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Al woke up suddenly. Looking around, he searched for the cause of this disturbance. It was about 2 in the morning and there were no visible threats as far as he could see. But as he listened more closely he could here something that sounded a lot like coughing.

"Brother…" he muttered, getting out of bed and walking towards the bathroom, the source of the noise. As he got closer the sound became clearer. Al knocked on the door calling out "Brother, are you alright?" Al heard some shuffling before his brother answered with an "I'm fine Al, go back to bed".

Al shifted nervously. "Brother are you sure…It sounded like you were coughing again…" He heard some more shuffling before Ed called out sounding slightly irritated "I'm fine Al! Now go back to bed!" Al sighed before walking back to his bed and flopping down on the mattress. He had been sure he had heard coughing, like how Ed had coughed at the hospital when they had argued…he let out another sigh before closing his eyes. He'd have to watch his brother more closely.

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Ed let out a relived sigh. Al had almost caught him in the middle of a coughing fit. There would have been questions not only about the coughing but also about the blood that stained the sink as well as the corner of his mouth. Letting out a sigh he turned the water on and began washing the blood of the sides of the sink. Keeping Al out of this would be harder than he had thought. He knew that Al was curious by nature but he had underestimated how determined he could be when it came to someone he cared about. Ed let out another sigh; if he was going to be meeting with the colonel in the morning it would be best get some sleep.

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As Ed stepped into to the colonel's office he mentally sighed. Here came the short jokes. Stupid colonel, he wasn't even that short anymore! He had grown to a respectable 5'11" and was now only a few inched shorter than Mustang himself. Because of the auto mail he had never had the chance to grow properly so it was surprising he was as tall as he was. Unfortunately Al didn't have auto mail weighing him down and stunting his growth so he had already grown to a frustrating 6'0".

"Hello Edward." A smug voice greeted from behind what seemed to be a mountain of paperwork. Ed looked up to see the colonel standing up with that frustrating grin plastered on his face. The one that meant that there would be no shortage of comments on his height. Only now he couldn't yell back….

Oh this was going to be _buckets_ of fun Though Ed sarcastically

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A/N: Hopefully that was longer. Sorry for the slow update but I have Science fair this week so I've been working but off to get that done. Anyway, thanks to all the reviewers! Ja!


	6. Chapter 6

Hey minna-san! Sorry for not updating sooner! Anyway, here's the next chapter!

**Achillea **– I know I update slow and I'm sorry. I had been planning to update a couple times over spring break but it didn't happen. I was put at my grandparent's house for half of the week and as they lack an Internet connection I couldn't update. Anyway, thank you! Here's an update for you.

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Here's chapter 6! Please remember to review!

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"Hello Full Metal"

God Ed hated that smirk and now it would be nearly impossible to retaliate to comments on his height. Despite the fact that Ed was no longer short! 'Oh well' Ed thought 'Let the abuse begin'. With that he glared at the Colonel, gave a non-committal grunt and collapsed on one of the couches.

"How was the mission?" the colonel questioned, infuriating smirk still firmly in place. Edward glared at Mustang once again.

"Got the information you were looking for, got rid of a couple of corrupt cops. But you already now all this. You always do but you get me to come down here to tell you anyway." Edward drawled, sounding slightly board.

"I also heard there was a bit of a commotion at the hotel you were staying at." Mustang stated, finally dropping the smirk. Ed stiffened slightly and looked away, unable to look the older man in the eye.

"I had nothing to do with it." He said quietly.

"A commotion in the same hotel you were staying at and you had nothing to do with it?" The colonel raised an eyebrow. "I find that remarkable hard to believe."

Ed simply shrugged, lacking the energy to deny the colonel's words. He had no way to know exactly what happened and even if he did, he had no proof of anything being wrong with the blond. Unless Al or he decided to tell him (and figure the chances of that), there was no way for him to find out.

Roy sighed. Edward refused to tell him anything and seemed rather intent on dropping the subject. Until he could get some hard evidence, the younger boy would tell him nothing.

The colonel smirked once again. "Well shortly, I've got another mission for you. This one right here in Central. How do you feel about helping to track down an escaped convict?" Since Al had gotten his body back he had given Ed missions consisting mostly of collection information, copying and continuing other alchemists research and other such things. Ed had been complaining about the lack of more difficult missions and the Colonel decided to finally give him what he wanted. Any negative effects from the transmutation would have been obvious by now wouldn't they? Besides, Ed wasn't the type to put his younger brother in danger. He could be rash on occasion, but he took no risks when it came to his brother's safety.

Ed snorted. "Finally. I thought I'd be stuck doing book work forever!" he then looked Mustang in the eye and glared, "and I'm not short!"

"Sure shrimp. Whatever you say." The colonel mocked. It was always entertaining to see the blond scream at him for calling him short.

'Great. He expects me to blow up and start screaming, but I can't yell without coughing which would tip him off to something being wrong. What should I do?' Edward thought frantically.

"I told you; I'm. Not. Short!" he glared at Mustang for what felt like the millionth time that day. "I can I leave now?"

"Yes, fine. You can leave." He said. This was odd. He couldn't remember one instance in which the younger alchemist had not responded to Roy's short jokes. This would require some investigation. Whatever it was, it would have to be something big to stop him from yelling…this made no sense.

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Well, that hadn't gone horribly. Whether Mustang had any suspicions or not, he had no proof. That in itself was a miracle.

"Hey Brother!"

Ed turned around and waved at Alphonse, who was running towards him, dodging around the officers that dotted the hallway.

"How'd the meeting with the colonel go?" he asked once he had reached his brother.

"Like it usually does" he shrugged. Al laughed slightly. No matter what happened, it seemed like he and the colonel would always argue.

"Um…Brother? How are you…feeling?" he asked quietly.

"Fine" Edward responded just as quietly. He began to walk in the direction of the library.

Al followed Ed. "Are you sure? I mean with the…I just…don't want you to wind up in the hospital again." Al said, worry was etched into his expression.

"I said I'm fine" he insisted, not looking Al in the eye.

"Maybe we should tell colonel Mustang. He might know how to help…" Al suggested hesitantly.

"No. To get the information I need I have to have access to certain books. Books I can only get if I'm a state alchemist. You and I both know that Mustang would take me off active duty which would restrict my access to the library." Ed stated stubbornly. "Come on Al let's get going. I need to pick up some books before Mustang gets us working on our next mission."

Al sighed, letting the subject of Ed's sickness drop. "Another mission? Where to this time?"

"In Central actually. Apparently some convict escaped from prison. Mustang needs help tracking him down and getting him back in police custody." Ed grinned "He'll be giving us the details tomorrow"

Al wasn't so sure it was a good idea for Ed to be going on a dangerous mission. He couldn't yell without coughing for god's sake! How was he supposed to hold his own in a fight? There was no way his brother would back down. He'd just have to watch his brother if they got into a fight to make sure he didn't push himself to hard. Still, Al had a bad feeling about this.

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By 9 o'clock the next morning the Elric brothers were in Mustang's office, awaiting details on the mission.

"Now, the man you are to apprehend is Anton Geist. He's wanted for 6 counts of breaking and entering, avoiding arrest and attempted murder. He's a skilled alchemist and good at sneaking up on people." Mustang then held up a picture of a young man, maybe in his late 20s or early 30s, with messy black hair and green eyes.

"This is the last known photo of Geist, from about 3 months ago. According to the guards at the prison, his appearance hasn't changed much except that his hair is a bit longer. Good luck." Mustang handed them the photo and a sheet of paper containing other bits of useful information such as cellmates, family and accomplices as well as his usual hangouts from before his incarceration. Ed grabbed these, nodded to Mustang, grinning, and left the office. This mission could prove interesting.

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A/N: Hopefully this chapter is longer than my other ones as I've noticed that my chapters tend to be a bit short. I know that not a lot happened with the scene in Mustang's office but since Ed couldn't exactly yell at Mustang it was rather difficult to put any humor in. I tried a couple of time but eventually I gave up and made it a more serious scene then I had first intended. Though I am considering putting some of the brothers' fan girls in the next chap. Tell me in your review what you think about this please!

Ja ne!


	7. Chapter 7

I was inspired by all your wonderful reviews. So I decided to write the next chapter. Thank you to everyone who reviewed!

**Angelic lily **– Yay! Another cookie! Thank you! Here's an update for you!

**PsycoNeko15** – You'll have read to find out. Either way Mustang will probably find out either in this chap or the next. Here's an update.

**SilverFlameoftheWindScar** – lol. It's fun to torture Ed! As for what I did for Ed, you'll have to read to find out.

**silent:tears:fall **– Thank you for the support. It's good to know people thought that bit was ok.

**Itaru-sama** – Thanks

**Maiden-of-the-tao** – Thank you! Here's the next chapter

**The Echizen** – I know there should be at least some hints of EdWin in here and when I origionally started it, there was more EdWin. I've only recently decided on how to introduce Winry. Don't worry though; there will be EdWin sometime in the next two chapters.

**girlgoneanime** – Thanks. Here's an update.

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**Naru-Rin** – (gulp) Here's an update! (please don't kill me! I'll never be able to finish my story!)

Thanks again to everyone who reviewed! Here's chapter 7!

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"Brother are you sure this is a good idea? I mean…" Al looked pleadingly at his brother and trailed off.

"I told you Al, I'll be fine!" Ed growled for the third time since they had left Mustangs office, half an hour ago.

"But Brother, you're sick. Mustang said that this guy is wanted for attempted murder! Maybe we should tell the Colonel that we can't take the mission." Al begged.

"I'll be fine. This is probably some two-bit crook who couldn't hit something 10 feet in front of him. I'll be fine." Ed said

"But…" Al sighed. His brother was too stubborn for his own good. "…I guess…"

Ed and Al were heading in the direction of the cafeteria. There mission was to begin tomorrow and the two were to go over Anton Geist's file for useful information before they began looking for him.

Snagging an empty table, Ed opened the file inside was all the information the military had collected on Geist. Ed's mind began to buzz with possible plans and ideas on how to best catch the man.

"Hey Al, how does the two of us going under cover sound?" Ed said with a grin.

"Huh?" Alfonse tilted his head in confusion. Subtility was not exactly one of his brother's strong points. His usual method was simply to rush in and deal with things head on.

"Think about it Al. Look at this guy's file. He's strong and has a lot of people who will help him or back him up, but when it comes down to it, the guy's an idiot. He won't expect an attack to come from his own people and we can probably just drug him and tie him up in his sleep. We might not even have to get in a serious fight with him."

Al gaped. It wasn't usually Ed's style to think through his plan of attack or to try to avoid a fight. Yet Ed was using the time Mustang had given them to think of the plan with the least risks.

Ed laughed at the surprised expression on his face. "Come on Al, I do think things through sometimes." Ed sobered suddenly "besides, if I can't handle a simple mission like this it'll raise suspision. Mustang, much as I hate to say it, isn't an idiot. He'll figure it out if we're not careful."

'So that's it.' Thought Al. 'He knows he's to weak to fight any real opponents so he's choosing to do this in a way that probably won't require a fight, and if it does, we'll still have the advantage.'

"So, you up for it Al?" Ed asked, grinning; though, Al noticed, the grin didn't reach his eyes. 'He's nervous' Al thought, slightly shocked.

"You bet Brother. Somebody's to keep you out trouble." Al chuckled. Images of his brother lying unconscious on the floor still haunted him. He'd thought his brother was _dead_. Had died and left him alone. He never wanted to feel like that again. That feeling of desperation. Like it was him dying instead. He wondered if it was that feeling that had made his brother so driven to bring back their mother. Whatever it was, Al would do whatever he had to do make sure that Edward was safe.

Ed mock glared at his younger sibling before muttering, "Go get yourself some food" tossing him some change to buy lunch with.

"Brother, you should eat too" Al said sternly as he noted that Ed had only given him enough food for one meal.

"Not hungry" Ed muttered quietly.

"Wow, Edward Elric? The Full Metal Alchemist? Not hungry? You feeling alright pipsqueak?" commented from behind the two brothers.

Edward spun around in his seat to face the owner of the voice and growled out " Shut up Mustang."

Al turned around at this point as well and let out a polite "Hello Colonel" before turning to face his brother again. "You need to eat Ed, or you'll get sick"

Ed mentally winced at the hidden meaning. That if he didn't eat he'd end up in the hospital again. At least Al had the sense to say it in a way that the Colonel might not pick up on it.

"He's right Ed. You not eating? That's got to be a sign that your not well" he agreed only half joking. He had noticed how pale the younger alchemist was. This was just another thing to the list of suspicious stuff he'd seen concerning Ed since the Elrics' had arrived in Central.

"Just go by yourself some lunch Al. I'll eat something later alright?" Ed bargained.

"Alright Brother." Al gave in. This wasn't over though, and the look he sent Ed let his brother know that in no uncertain terms. But he couldn't say much while the Colonel was there without giving away that Ed was sick. Sighing, Al got up and went to go buy food.

"Seriously Ed. Are you alright? You're always willing to eat. I've never heard you say you weren't hungry." Mustang asked, a look of concern on his face. After the years he and Ed had spent with each other, somehow he found himself liking the boy. Almost like Ed was a younger brother or something. He found that the idea of something being wrong with Ed frightened him.

Edward sighed. "Why does everyone think there's something wrong just 'cause I'm not hungry?" he asked, frustrated. "I'm fine, dammit!" he said, glaring at mustang.

"Just checking pipsqueak. You know, you'll never get any taller if you don't eat. I mean, even Al is taller than you." Mustang grinned. If anything was going to set him off that was it.

"I'm 17, Mustang. I think I've pretty much stopped growing; and stop calling me a pipsqueak!" he glared daggers at Mustang and Roy found himself remarkably glad that looks couldn't kill. Still, Edward had not reacted as he normally would to both being called small or having it pointed out that his brother had outgrown him. 'That's it. There's got to be something wrong with him. Not eating? Not reacting to being called short? Something is definitely wrong, and I'm going to find out what.' Mustang thought determinedly.

"Brother! I've got some lunch." Al called, having finally gotten through the line to receive food.

"Hey Mustang! Don't you have paperwork to do? I'm pretty sure I saw Hawkeye around here looking for you" Ed asked

Mustang glanced around nervously. "I'll see you later Full Metal," he said. Mustang shuddered. Hawkeye could be scary when he hadn't done his paperwork. "Oh, Full Metal? Your staff will be arriving in four days."

Edward's head snapped up. "Staff?" he questioned nervously. He didn't want staff. From what he'd seen staff were prone to being far too curious of their commanding officers.

Mustang chuckled. "Yes staff. You were recently promoted to lt. Colonel, weren't you? Once you reach that rank the military assigns you a set of staff. Don't worry. You'll still be going on missions and such as you are still a member of my staff." With one last chuckle Mustang exited the cafeteria, leaving a steaming Ed and a confused Alfonse in his wake.

"Stupid bastard. Damn him to hell!" Ed muttered before shaking his head and turning towards Al. "We better get ready if we're going to be heading tomorrow." He rose from the table and began walking towards the doors, Al following closely behind.

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"So how are we going to find this guy Brother?" Al asked, glancing around at the rather decrepit buildings that lined the street they were walking along.

"These guys are creatures of habit. It's likely he went to one of his old hide- outs. We're going to check there first." Ed explained, looking around for the sign of the pub that had been the first on the list of old hangouts.

"Ah ha!" Ed declared triumphantly several minutes later. "The fox and hound. Here it is Al. Let's go" he grinned; pushing his died black hair out of his face. While being famous did have some advantages, it got rather annoying when he was trying to inconspicuous. Luckily he had grown to look more mature over the years, and since he had gone on few dangerous missions, the public was still used to how he looked before they had gotten Al's body back. So, it wasn't as difficult as it used to be, but should someone recognize him they were both screwed.

Al on the other hand, while well known, was not easily recognized, since he had become human once again and dropped the armor that people were used to. He needed very little disguising.

"Let's go Brother." Al said smiling.

"Al, while you're in there, you can't call me that. If things go bad and they find out that I'm really a state alchemist I don't want you dragged into it. Just call me Ed for now. Ok?" he asked

"A-alright br-Ed" he agreed, stumbling slightly over the name change. He had called Edward' Brother' for as long as he could remember. Not calling him that felt foreign and wrong.

Ed grinned, looking slightly relieved. He knew this plan was likely to get shot to hell and if that happened, he didn't want them to think that using Al against him would be a good idea.

"Ok Al. Let's go."


	8. Chapter 8

Hey everyone! Sorry it's taken me so long to update. In exchange for waiting so patiently this chapie is extra long! Enjoy!

Rena: Thanks for the support. I know how hard it is to find a story in fma that isn't Ed/Roy. I like yaoi, but I don't like that pairing. Here's the next chapter

Sliverlode: Here's an update for you.

AnAngel'sWings: Things are about to get worse for Ed! Thanks for the support! Sorry I took so long to update

silent:tears:fall: Yup! Thanks for the review.

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Itaru-sama: here's a nice load of angst for ya! Thanks for the review!

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Yikes! 12 reviews! OMG! Thank you!

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Weeks had passed. The brothers had blended in well. Ed quickly had enough proof to had several more charges to the list that Geist had collected and frankly, Ed couldn't wait to get out of there. The number of times they had almost gotten caught was enough to make both Elrics nervous. Privacy, apparently, was a foreign concept to these people.

Ed collapsed on the small couch that served as one of bed in the tiny room he and Al shared.

"Ed? Are you alright?" Al questioned. It still felt wrong to call his brother that, but Ed had said they would be out of here soon. Still, it seamed to him that his brother's health was declining. Whether it was paranoia or not, he wasn't sure.

"I'm fine." Ed answered automatically. This question came often and so far, the answer hadn't changed. He was itching to get out of this dump of a bar and relax. If his plan worked the two of them would be out of here by tomorrow morning.

"Did you eat?" Al continued his questioning. It had almost become a ritual. They would growl at each other and get the information they needed to prove any more charges and continue to gain the trust of the criminals they were to turn in. Then when the day was over they would go back to their small room, lock the door and Al would question Ed as to how he was doing and make sure he wasn't doing anything that could make him worse.

"Yes" Ed said defensively. It was true; he had eaten a sandwich at lunch. It wasn't his fault that he was never hungry. It seemed like even the idea of eating was enough to make him sick to his stomach. He was trying to eat, he honestly was. But for some reason his stomach had decided to go on strike.

"When and how much?" Al pressed.

Ed sighed. There was no escaping Al once he had made his mind up. Al knew him to well for Ed to be able to lie and get away with it. "Lunch".

"How much" Al repeated, more firmly. He stood up from the small other small couch that was tucked in the corner and walked towards Ed, looking as if he were about to fight a battle rather than question his brother on his eating habits.

"A sandwich. Happy now?" Ed glowered and mentally prepared himself for the scolding that he knew Al was about to deliver.

"A sandwich isn't lunch. It's a snack, and it's passed 8:30. What happened to dinner? Ed, you're going to get sick again! If you don't start eating I'm going to have to start force-feeding you! Besides, don't you think the Colonel will notice how thin you've gotten?" Al ranted. Why couldn't Ed understand how worried this was making him? If he wasn't careful he was going to collapse.

"Al, I'll be fine. Don't worry. I'll eat more once we get back. It's probably just that the food here is so bad." Ed tried to calm his younger brother. It seemed odd for him to be the one calming Al down instead of the other way around.

Al sighed in defeat. "Alright Brother." He sighed

Ed sat up, hissing "Al! Don't call me that! You're gonna get us caught!"

It was Al's turn to wince. "Sorry Ed. I forgot."

Ed sighed, lying back down. "It's ok. Just be careful alright?" Closing his eyes, he murmured "Gonna get some sleep. Night Al. Wake me up around midnight alright?"

Despite having his body back, Al still fell into his old habits when he was nervous about something. With their plan going down tonight, you could bet on Al not sleeping more than a couple hours. "Sure thing Ed" he muttered, smiling, to his older sibling's sleeping form.

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"You sure?" a voice asked

"Ya. I heard them talking about it with my own two ears." Came the meek response

"Fine. Leave" the first voice said, only half paying attention to the dark form scuttling away at his words. "This should be fun," he murmured, grinning.

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"Ed. Ed, wake up" Al shook his brother's sleeping form.

"Nng…Wha…?" Ed muttered finally stirring. "What time is it?"

"Five to twelve" Al responded, "Time to go". Ed stood up, almost instantly alert.

All right. Let's go Al!" he whispered, grinning.

The brothers crept out of the room and down the dark hallway towards the door at the end of the hall. Al quickly wrote a transmutation circle just below the door handle and activated it with a small flash of blue light before opening the now unlocked door.

Ed stepped in first. Looking around, he mentally cursed. Geist wasn't there. Al looked at him questioningly. Ed shook his head, letting Al know that the room was empty. Al's eyes widened slightly before he pointed behind Ed.

Ed was confused for a moment before he felt a pair of arms wrap around his neck and midsection. Looking towards his brother, he saw two men restraining him as three more stood near the door. 'Shit' was the only thought going through his head before his instincts kicked in.

He elbowed his captor in the stomach before spinning out of the hold. Ed ran towards Al. He aimed a kick towards the closest thug's. Having successfully gotten the man's attention, knocked the man unconscious with a well aimed punch to the temple.

Al had disposed of the other man that had been holding him quickly once Ed had distracted the first. Ed and Al turned towards the three remaining men standing near the door as they rushed towards them, two aimed at Ed and one at Al.

Ed did a spin kick, knocking the first man into the second. He was breathing heavily. He was too tired to be doing any serious fighting. He had to end this quickly. Clapping his hands together, he got ready to form his customary blade from his automail.

"Now let's stop all this. Surely you don't want your brother hurt, do you?" Ed turned around to face Geist, the one holding the gun, but the words weren't aimed at him.

Geist was talking to Al.

Al was holding a sword he had transmuted in his hands and was facing Geist. Geist was grinning triumphantly, gun aimed towards Ed. The three remaining thugs had surrounded Ed, leaving him nowhere to go but toward Geist and the gun he held.

"Now, put down the sword and I'll leave your brother in one piece." Geist said, still grinning. Al didn't move to put down the sword. He simply glanced from Geist to Ed and back. "Alright" Geist said, his grin turning slightly crazed.

It was as if everything was moving in slow motion. Geist aimed at Ed while Al had dropped the sword and was running towards the arm holding the gun. Ed couldn't seem to move. It was as if he had been glued to the spot. Suddenly everything sped up again. Al grabbed Geist's arm and pulled as the gun fired twice with twin booms. Ed still couldn't move.

Al had managed to change the aim of the gun so the shots didn't kill Ed, but they hit all the same. Ed flew backwards from the impact. He lay there unmoving for a moment.

"Brother!" a scream tore from Alphonse's throat. He tried to run to Ed but was restrained by Geist. "No! Brother!" he screamed, trying to free himself from Geist's hold.

Slowly, Ed began to stir. Coughing slightly, he sat up. His right arm hung limply at his side but no blood came from the holes through which the bullets entered. He shakily stood and chuckled mirthlessly. "Never thought that I'd be happy for this arm." He commented, looking down

"Brother, you…you're ok…" Al stopped struggling and a ghost of a smile flitted across his face.

"B-but…I shot you! How can you be ok? You're not even bleeding? What are you?" Geist questioned, a look of terror on his face.

Ed looked up. "What am I? I'm human Anton. Just like you. That's all I am. Just a man." With that Ed began walking toward him

"You can't be human. I don't know what you are, but I'm not just going to let you kill me" he yelled, hysterical. He raised the gun again and aimed, his arm shaking. Ed simply continued to walk toward him, looking far to calm for a man who had just been shot.

"I'm not going to kill you Anton. Put the gun down." He stated calmly.

"Shut up! Shut up! I won't listen to you!" he yelled, and fired the gun twice, this time hitting Ed in the left shoulder and just above his hip.

Ed faltered for a second as he heard Al call out his name, but continued to walk forward and repeated "Put the gun down Anton"

There were three more shots all hitting Ed; one in the elbow his automail arm, two more grazed his right side. He faltered again and looked towards Al, giving him a reassuring smile. Al seemed to be beyond words at this point but tears silently trailed down his face. Ed was right in front of Anton now.

Ed firmly grasped the gun in his left hand, the only one that was functioning, and said, just as calmly as before, "Give me the gun Anton". One last shot echoed through the room and connected with his left shoulder once again. Ed simply took the gun from Anton's now slack grip and watched as Geist collapsed on the floor in shock, unable to move. The other three men had fled the room long ago. "Thanks" Edward murmured quietly. Before collapsing on the ground.

Al was at his side instantly. Edward looked up at Alphonse's tearstained face and murmured "Don't cry Alphonse, it'll be ok." He broke off coughing. "Looks like I busted my arm again. Guess…we'll be seeing…Winry and…Aunt Pinako…again…" he trailed off, eyes closing.

"Brother?" Al gently shook Ed's still form - to still - part of his mind told him." Brother! Brother! No…" Al desperately tried to remember what he knew of life-saving procedures. He tore off sections of his shirt had desperately tried to stop the bleeding from the many bullet wounds Ed had sustained. 'Please let him be breathing' he thought, images of his brother, dead and buried flooded his mind. No. He wouldn't let that happen. He breathed a slight sigh of relief when he noticed the shallow rise and fall of Ed's chest.

Suddenly he heard someone come bursting through the door. Al instinctively shielded his brother's body with his own.

"Alphonse?" a familiar voice asked

He spun around "Colonel?"

Mustang caught site of Ed's still form. "I-is he…He isn't…?" he questioned, unable to say _that _word.

"No" Al responded, instantly understanding. "Please, help him. He's going to bleed to death!" desperation coloured his words. Mustang seemed to snap out of his stupor as he started barking orders people. Several medically trained officers came and began treating Ed and soon had him on a stretcher and were taking him to the hospital, Al right beside them.

Mustang turned toward Anton Geist. "You." He hissed, venom covering his words. "He's seventeen! He came here to help protect people! He has been willing to give his life for filth like you, and you shot him how many times? Four? Five? Answer me!" he roared.

Anton simply laughed, a crazed look in his eyes. "He's not human. He can't be. He can't be"

Roy simply shot the man a look of disgust. "He's more human than you'll ever be." Before roughly grabbing the man and locked a pair of handcuffs around his wrists. "You, Anton Geist, are charged with two counts of attempted murder, assault on a military officer, six counts of breaking and entering, avoiding arrest, position of a stolen firearm, and position of a non-licensed firearm. I hope you rote in jail for the rest of your life." He said, leading Anton out of the room and into a military car.

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It was the second time he had been in the hospital waiting to know that his brother was all right in under a month. He didn't like it. He liked the fact that said brother was having an operation to remove the three bullets that were lodged in his body and repair the damage from the other two bullets that had gone all the way through. It had been an hour since he had gone into the operation and all he could do was hope that he would be ok. He sighed. At least the military was covering the hospital expenses.

"Alphonse Elric?" a voice rang out form the door.

His head looked up immediately, hoping that perhaps it was someone with news on how his brother was. "Yes? Over here." He called.

A young woman, maybe about twenty five, with bright red hair that went about mid-way down her back and brown eyes approached him. She had a sprinkling of freckles across her nose and wore a military uniform. "Hi. I'm 2nd lieutenant Klarissa Albers. I was recently assigned to work under Lt. Colonel Edward Elric and I heard that he got hurt…" she trailed off, looking slightly embarrassed.

'If that isn't the understatement of the century…' he thought bitterly. Why are you here? I mean, you've never even met my brother?" he asked, trying to remain polite.

"No, I haven't met him but…I've heard of all the good things he's done for people and…the man who shot him. He broke into out house about six months ago and shot my little sister. She almost died. I…wanted to thank him for making sure that that man would end up in jail and not be able to hurt anyone else." She explained.

Al smiled tiredly. Klarissa seamed nice enough. Besides, it would be nice to have someone to talk to. "He's in the operation room right now, so you can't go to see him right now but you can wait if you want. Though I'm not sure if they'll let you see him right now.

"That's ok. To honest, the reason I came right away is because when my little sister found out that Edward Elric was the one to take down the one who hurt her, she wanted to thank him so she made him a card. She asked if I could give it to him." She chuckled. "She can be so cute, I can't say no!"

Al chuckled quietly as well. "How old is she?" he asked, curious.

"Eight" she answered

And eventually another hour passed, with them just talking. Until eventually a nurse came out. "Alphonse Elric?" she asked, looking around.

He stood up immediately. "Right here. Is my Brother all right? Can I see him?"

The nurse walked towards the younger Elric. "He's alright. We managed to remove all of the bullets and repaired most of the damage but he's going to have to stay in the hospital for at least a few weeks. You can see him if you like. He's should be waking up soon." She turned around and began to lead the two through a pair of doors and down a hall until she stopped at one of the doors. "Here he is. Remarkably lucky kid. Shot that many times and still alive? Not many who could pull that off. But then again, he is the Full Metal Alchemist. Oh, and miss? You'll only be able to stay for a few minutes unless you're family. " She commented before walking back down the hall.

Al pushed the door open and walked over to the bed and held his hand before sitting down in a nearby chair. "Brother? Are you awake?" he questioned quietly. Klarissa hesitantly walked towards the bed as well.

"Al? He croaked out. "Shit. Why the hell am I in the hospital again?"

"Brother, don't you remember? Anton Geist? You got shot. Five times, not including the times your automail got hit." Al reminded.

Ed gowned. "Double shit. I broke Winry's automail again. She's gonna kill me. At least tell me we caught the bastard." He muttered.

"Ya. We caught him. He'll be in jail for the rest of his life. If he doesn't end up dead for almost killing you." He explained.

"Ed glanced over at Klarissa. "Who's she?' he asked

Klarissa straitened, saluting. "2nd lieutenant Klarissa Albers. At your service."

Ed looked mildly amused for a moment before he said "um… At ease? You don't need to be all serious like that. Why are you here just out of curiosity."

"She's one of the people working under you Brother. Remember, Mustang told you that you would be getting staff?" Al explained.

"I came here on behalf of my little sister. She wanted to thank you for catching that man. Anton Geist. He shot her and she almost died. Also, she wanted to give you this card she made." Klarissa explained, still somewhat nervous, before grabbing a hand drawn card out of her pocket and handing it to him.

Ed took it examined it before looking back at Klarissa. "Thanks. Tell your sister thanks too." He said, smiling.

"I better go." She said, saluting, before quietly leaving the room.

"Well, I guess we'll be visiting Winry soon huh?" Ed said, grinning.

"Maybe in a few weeks. The nurse said you'd probably have to stay here for at least a few weeks. To make sure you heal alright." Al explained

"Aw man! I'm stuck here for the next two weeks. Gah." Ed moaned. "This is going to be loads of fun. What do you wanna bet Mustang's gonna get me doing paper work the whole time?" he chuckled.

"Brother, are you sure you're alright? I mean you got shot. Several times." He asked

"I will be." He chuckled slightly at the look on Al's face, before breaking out coughing. "Al, I'm dieing. I can't let a few bullets get in my way. If I don't get out of here and start finding a cure soon, it'll be to late. I can't afford to wait." He looked out the window at the rising sun. "I'm not just gonna sit here and let myself die. So as soon as I can move, we're going to Resembool to get my automail fixed up and then I" he paused at the look Al sent him that clearly said don't-you-dare-think-your-doing-this-yourself-you-idiot. "We have to start doing some research. Then it's back on the road again." He finished. "I'm tired Al. I'm gonna get some sleep. You should too." He murmured before falling asleep.

"Sure Brother. I'll sleep. Just don't die on me. Alright?" Alphonse whispered to Edward's sleeping form.

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A/N: Yay! Ed didn't die! Weeeee!

Anyway, please review!


	9. Chapter 9

Here's chapter 9 of Someday! Thank you for all the wonderful reviews! You guys rock!

FruitsBasketFreak44: Here's more! Thanks for the review!

PsychoNeko15: Thanks for the review! Hee hee hee…what will happen next to poor Ed?

Itaru-sama: Thanks for the review. Here's an update!

Fullmetal lover: Thank you! Here's more!

Achillea: Thanks for the tips. Luckily, I managed to find someone to Beta my chapters. It means that a may take an extra day to post m y chapters but they will have no/fewer mistakes. Thanks for the review.

RoseOfSharon28: Here's a new chapter for you!

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Priestess kurumi inu's sister: Thanks! Here's an update.

Linchi: Thanks. Don't worry; she will NOT be a Mary-sue! She is a background character that has, frankly, a fairly small role in the story. (Shudder) she isn't a Mary-sue. Thanks for the review!

Here's the next chapter! I want to thank my Beta reader! Hopefully there won't be any more spelling mistakes. Here's the next chapter.

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"How is he?" Roy enquired, letting a small amount of his anxiousness seep into his voice. Ed had woken up after his operation about an hour ago and the doctors were only just letting military personnel in to question him on what happened. Even if Roy saw Ed and Al in a brotherly or perhaps even fatherly way, it wasn't recognized by law so he had been stuck here, in the waiting room for the past god knows how long.

"Better than we expected. He's conscious and already demanding to be released from the hospital. But there's something else I'd like to discuss with you…regarding the boy's health," The doctor replied, a look of seriousness on his face. When he got a nod in response from the colonel, he continued. "We took a sample of blood. Just as a precaution. I know how you military types are. He probably hasn't seen a doctor in at least a year. It's procedure to check for any abnormalities when you come in here. It's a good thing we did too. The boy is sick. Very sick."

"I know." Mustang responded, nodding. It hadn't been hard to figure out. He had thought it was simply a cold, or at worst, a nasty flu that would clear up in a week, but if the doctor felt the need to mention it...it had to be serious. "What do you know?"

"Not much. We're still processing the samples we took. But there seems to be something wrong with his immune system. It's weaker than it should be." The doctor explained

"He's sick. Isn't it normal for his immune system to be weaker because of that?" Roy questioned, his brow creased in confusion.

"While the immune system does get weaker while someone's sick, the level of white blood cells usually increases. The level of white blood cells in his blood are…uncomfortably low. We still can't pinpoint what it is that's the problem but it's not good. It's like… his immune system is shutting down. That means that when it gets bad enough, he could die of something as simple as a cold. We're still doing more tests. This is probably just the tip of the iceberg. Still…" the doctor trailed off, and began cleaning his glasses on the edge of his white doctor's coat.

"How long?" Mustang asked, unable to keep the mounting dread out of his voice.

"If we can't boost his immune system, about two months. If we can do something to help, maybe four months. If we're lucky, and that's assuming that there's nothing else wrong." He sighed "I don't know how much we can do if we can't figure out what disease this is. My suggestion is to let him live out his remaining time in peace. The chances of surviving this are…slim. I'm sorry." The man truly did look as if he wanted to help somehow. He looked about 40 and had bark-brown hair speckled with bits of grey. Premature wrinkles were permanently etched into his worried face along with brown eyes that suggested a kind man who had seen too much death and suffering for one lifetime.

A look of pain crossed unhindered across Roy's face. "There's nothing you can do? I'm supposed to sit here and watch him die?" his slate-colored eyes begged for reassurance that the young blond alchemist would be all right.

"Right now we're giving him blood transfusions to help raise his white blood cell count. That should help a bit but right now, there's nothing else we can do. I'm sorry." The doctor paused, placing a comforting hand on Mustang's shoulder. "We'll do all we can. You can see him now if you like."

As the colonel walked away, the doctor sighed. "Poor kid. He'll die a slow and painful death, and with so little time there's almost no way to find a cure." He shook his head before walking back down the hall; he hated this part of his job. Maybe this kid would be lucky. Maybe he would survive. He mentally sighed. Yeah, maybe the kid would be all right. And maybe they would stop fighting wars. It was about as likely. There wasn't enough time. Maybe if it could have been caught earlier…but not now. It was too late now. It always was.

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Mustang nearly ran down the hall toward Ed's room. He couldn't die. Roy couldn't imagine living without the two Eric brothers there to look after. He had to find a cure. He didn't care what it took; he would not let Ed die. He would not be responsible for yet another life being cut short.

As Mustang entered the room, he heard the familiar sounds of the two brothers arguing.

"Come on Al, all I wanna do is sit up! It's not like I'm gonna get up and start dancing or something!" Ed complained, struggling to sit up with Al holding him down.

"No Brother. The doctor said you shouldn't push yourself, the stitches on your side could open up!" Al said rationally, his arms effectively stopping his weaker-than-usual brother from moving.

"Al!" Ed whined, unable to do much else.

Roy found it suddenly harder to breathe. In a lot of ways, Ed looked the same as he always did, but now Mustang was noticing little things that he hadn't noticed before. Ed's face was thinner than it should have been and there were bags under his eyes, suggesting he wasn't getting enough sleep or eating enough. His normally tanned skin was paler than usual and his struggling was weaker than it should have been.

"Al, let him sit up." Roy managed to choke out.

"Colonel Mustang?" Al stopped his efforts to restrain Ed to look up at the older man. "Why? He could open up his wounds again." He tilted his head in confusion.

"He can't breathe." The colonel pointed out. Now that Al looked, his brother's breathing was labored and shallower than it should have been. He let go of his brother, sending him a slightly incredulous look.

Ed chuckled nervously at Alphonse's look. 'Great. This is gonna mean another interrogation session later isn't it?' he thought, already dreading the thought of dodging Al's rather pointed questions. He was tired enough as it was.

"Why didn't you tell me Ed?" Roy questioned, as a troubled look flickered across his face.

Ed let out another nervous chuckle and gave Mustang a confused but cautious look. "What do you mean Mustang? Tell you what?" he questioned

"You know very well what I'm talking about Edward!" Mustang roared, storming over to the hospital bed.

Ed suddenly threw a questioning look at his brother. When Al simply gave him a small nod, Ed sighed. 'Looks like that interrogation session is coming early.' He sighed. 'No use in lying anymore. I have to tell them something'. Running a hand through his messy blond hair he looked up. "What do you know?"

Roy almost smiled in relief. The boy was actually going to tell him something rather than dance around the subject, dodging questions. This had to be good. Right? "Something's wrong with your immune system. They said it was shutting down. You've known about this for a while, haven't you Ed?"

Judging by the look on Al's face, this was new information. 'Typical Ed. He's making the ones around him worry by trying to protect them.' Roy looked up "Now how did this happen?"

Ed chuckled, blinking tiredly (a side affect of the pain medication) and looked toward the ceiling. "It had to do with the stone." He paused for a moment, trying to think of what to say next. "I found a way to create the philosopher's stone without sacrificing human lives. What you need to understand is that it isn't the human lives directly that you need. Every person on earth has the same amount of basic alchemic power. That's what the stone needs, the alchemic power equivalent to many human lives. Normally there's no way to get that power without killing people in the process but…" Ed yawned. "Al, remember Lab 5, when I stepped in that puddle of red water? It multiplied my alchemic power to far beyond what humans were designed to be able to handle. My brain subconsciously cut off the extra power, otherwise I'd have lost control over it and be unable to control my alchemy." Ed paused again but refused to look at either Mustang or Al, knowing that if he did he'd be unable to continue. "I used that extra power to create the stone. I couldn't just extract that energy out my body though. It would have killed me just like anybody else. So I started to form the stone within my own body. When it was finished I…removed it…from my body." He finished finally, letting out another yawn.

'That ought to be enough to keep them satisfied. Now if only I could get some sleep…' Ed thought, fighting to remain awake.

"That doesn't explain how you got sick though, Brother" Al asked, confused.

'Damn. Why does he have to be so bloody perceptive?' he thought tiredly. Sleep seemed so inviting right now. If only they would stop asking questions…

"Remember…the red water… in Xenotime?" Ed managed to get out before giving into sleep.

Al sighed. "Figures the medication they gave him would kick in right before he could tell us what we want to know."

AL sighed and settled into the uncomfortable plastic chair that had been placed next to the bed, and grasped Ed's hand. "They gave him some medication just before you came in. To help with the pain. They said it would probably make him tired."

Mustang walked over to the bed and pushed the hair away from the sleeping boy's face. "What do you remember about Xenotime Al?"


	10. Chapter 10

Thanks for all the reviews! Oh my god! I can't believe how many reviews I got for last chapter!

Rena: Here's an update! Thank you!

kingdomheartschic13: Thank you! Sorry for the long wait!

Achillea: Sorry the last chapter was so short!

Itaru-sama: thanks for the review. Yeah…that would be weird…

girlgoneanime: I updated! Yay!

charmedxxone: Don't worry! Thank you for reviewing more than once! Here's an update!

DarkInuHanyou: Thanks! Here's more!

FruitsBasketFreak44: Thank you!

jojojo: sorry for the spelling errors but I have a beta reader now so the number of spelling errors should go down. Though, this chapter hasn't been beta'd yet. I'm going to be going back and editing everything over the he next few weeks. 0.o There is NOT going to be romance between Ed and Al! (Shudder) I have nothing against yaoi but I do not like that pairing. Nor will their be romance between Klarissa and Ed. I'm pretty sure I put it in the summery but this is an EdWin fic…Thanks for the review.

Breath of Death: Yeah I know. It sounds like HIV/aids. Thanks for the reviews.

RoseOfSharon28: Thank you!

fmachibichick: Thank you! Thank you so much for the support! Here's an update for you!

Priestess kurumi inu's sister: Thanks. As for if Ed's going to die…you'll have to read to find out…

Legendary Chimera: Thank you! Hopefully this chapter will be longer than last chapter.

PsychNeko15: Thanks!

**_Please Read:_** I have had some reviews asking about pairings. Perhaps I'm misunderstanding, but I want to make the perfectly clear. This is not an Ed x Al fic! Nor is this an Ed x OC fic! This is an Ed x Winry story; it's just taken me longer than I thought it would to introduce her into the story. She will be coming in this story. Romance is probably not going to be an obvious part of the story. It will be there but more in angst or implied form. There will probably be a couple bigger scenes between them but I'm not comfortable writing romance yet. Thank you!

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A week later, Mustang had pulled some strings and Ed was out of the hospital (though he was confined to a wheel chair). Al had to admit, Ed looked rather comical, sitting, glower firmly placed on his face, with both his arms in slings, one for a damaged shoulder, one for his non-functioning auto mail. Unable to manage most things on his own, Mustang, in all his infinite wisdom, had assigned several officers to escort Ed and Al to the train station. As luck would have it, one was a rather large fan of the legendary full metal alchemist. Ed was not amused.

"Full Metal Sir?"

Ed slowly turned his head to face the voice, still glowering, and grit out "yes?"

"U-um well…the train is coming sir. W-would you like me to push over to the platform sir? The officer asked nervously

Al had a hard time not bursting out laughing. He had to wonder, what happened to the Ed that was constantly looking for attention? His brother looked like he wanted nothing more than to push this man in front of a moving train. Eventually Ed gave up. Sighing he nodded his head in assent and the officer, a sandy haired man with thin wire-rim glasses, pushed him over to the train platform.

After Ed had fallen asleep in the hospital, the colonel and Al went over what had happened in Xenotime. Al's memory of what happened was a bit hazy but once Ed had woken up again, he had steadfastly refused to comment on anything he had said before the medication had kicked in or about Xenotime. Luckily, Al told the colonel what little he knew and Mustang managed to pull some strings and get Ed out of the hospital.

Now, they were off to Resembool to get Ed's autmail fixed. After that, he wasn't sure what it was the older Elric had planned. Nor did he know how Edward intended to explain the bullets in his right arm. Winry would not be amused.

Al walked over to the train platform and stood behind Ed. Whatever it was that would happen next, he would be there. No matter what. He would stay by his brother's side. Edward wouldn't leave him like the rest of his family had. Not if he had anything to say about it. Al pushed his older brother's wheelchair onto the train and towards the private compartment that Mustang had arranged for them. He couldn't stop his father from leaving or prevent his mother's death, but this, this, he could stop. He could make sure Ed didn't follow the same path as their parents.

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Several hours later they had arrived in Resembool. The sun was setting now and Ed was looking forward to having his right arm back. It was bloody annoying! It wasn't enough to get shot in the shoulder; no, then there was the reconstructive surgery to repair the shattered bone. He wouldn't be able to use that arm for anything useful for over a month! If they were attacked, he wouldn't be able to defend himself. At least once Winry had fixed his damaged auto mail he'd be able to do _something_. Not to mention the 'protection' Mustang had assigned. Why did there have to be a fan boy? Did Mustang enjoy torturing him that much? He couldn't even fight back! One thing was for sure. After all this was over, Mustang was going to get one hell of an ass beating.

Luckily, a man that was passing through with a truck was willing to give the group ride to the Rockbell's house and fifteen minutes later they had arrived. Several officers first unloaded Ed's wheelchair from the back of the truck (where the group had been sitting for the ride there) and then the remaining officers lifted a very embarrassed Ed into the waiting chair. Al didn't think he had ever scene his brother look quite so flustered.

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Winry woke with a start to the sound of her grandmother calling that a new customer was arriving. Winry sat up from where she had fallen asleep on the floor and brushed a strand of white blond hair out of her face.

"I'll be down in a minute Grandma!" she called as she got up, scrambling to change into her work pants. A few minutes later she was running out of the house to greet the new customer her Grandmother had mentioned. And as expected she could make out the shape of someone in a wheelchair amongst a group of people primarily dressed in military uniforms through the sun's glare. She shaded her eyes with her hands in an attempt to get a better look at the person in the wheel chair but all she caught was a flash of gold blond hair.

'Wait a minute…' she thought, eyes narrowing in suspicion.

"Ed? Ed! Al! Is that you?" she called out. She received a wave in return from one of the standing figures.

Winry ran towards the brothers, curious as to why one was in a wheelchair yet afraid to find out. When she finally reached them Ed let out a slightly nervous chuckle.

"Hi…Winry" he said slowly.

'What could they possibly have been doing that would done this much damage? Not only did he break his auto mail one but his real one too! Why is he in a wheelchair? Did he bust his leg too?' the young auto mail mechanic pondered worriedly.

"Ed! I can't believe you! You broke your auto mail again? I thought you' be doing less dangerous missions, not more dangerous ones! Just what have you been up to?" she yelled, trying to hide her deep-rooted concern.

Ed cringed. This probably wouldn't be pleasant. 'She this angry and she hasn't even found out about me getting shot. She's gonna kill me!' Hopefully Al would intervene before his poor abused skull got _to _reacquainted with her wrench…

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Al wheeled his brother inside the Rockbell house. Winry sighed as the entire troop of bodyguards refused to stay in the house while she tended to Ed's arm, claiming that they would prefer to parole the perimeter of the house to prevent any enemies from attacking their charge in his weakened state.

Turning around, she ordered Ed to remove his shirt so she could inspect just how much damage he had done this time. After struggling for about tem minutes (removing clothing is difficult without the use of either arm) Ed surrendered and asked for a pair of scissors so he could simply cut the shirt off.

To say that Winry had not reacted well to see the large amount of bandeges covering his chest and left shoulder was an understatement.

To say she was upset when she found several _bullets_ lodged in his right arm, even more so.

Suddenly the room was very very quiet. Ed looked at Winry causiously. He had expaected her to yell, shout, scream; something! Instead she was just sitting there, shaking.

Ed leaned forward, wanting to reach out and touch her shoulder but lacking a functioning arm to do so. "Hey, Win…you ok?" he questioned.

"Tell me Ed, are those bandages from bullets too?" her voice was quiet, but deadly serious.

Ed paused, unsure how of how to answer. "Winry…I…"

"They are aren't they?" it wasn't really a question but Ed answered anyway.

"…yeah. Yeah they are." He muttered quietly, eyes downcast. Standing beside him, Al's eyes betrayed regret and guilt.

"How?"

It wasn't a difficult question really. One simple word. That was all it was, but suddenly Ed found it difficult to say a word. His mouth opened and closed several times without a sound before he finally said something.

"We were supposed to aprehend an escaped convict. We decided to go undercover and take him down from the inside but he cought on. When we launched our attack, he was ready. It didn't exactly go well." He explained, still unable to look up.

"No Ed, that's not what I mean. You've fought people with guns before and been fine. Now you're telling me that when you tried to take down some convict you got yourself shot? I want to know why it happened Ed. What was different this time?" she said, raw emotion colouring her words. She looked towards Ed, as if expectiong to find the answer written on his face, and in a way it was…

Her eyes widened in realization. "Something's wrong. Really wrong." She stood up suddenly, desperate for answers. Tears slouded her blue eyes. "What's wrong? Why won't you say anything, damn it? Answer me!" She yelled, glancing from Ed to Al. Ed still refused to look up.

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A/N: Yay! Winry's finnally here! Some angst to! I hope to have a nice Ed x Win scene next chapter too. Sorry, I'm not grat at writing fluff ect so I'm sticking to what I know for now. I'll try to have some more romantic parts later and less angst. PLEASE tell me in your reviews whether you'd prefer more angst or some fluff! I need to know!

BTW, sorry it took so long to update. I was away for almost a week and then I was sick for a week after that. Ever since I've been having a hard time getting what I want written down on paper. Stupid writers block. Anyway, that's gone now, so I'll try to update as much as I can in the next while to make up for it!

R & R please!


	11. Chapter 11

OMG! Yay! Over th 100 review mark! (Faints) Here are the review responces.

Sailorplutoouterscout – My story is funny? I gave up on being funny so long ago. Nice to know it's funny anyway. Hopefully its serious too. (the whole Edo-kun's dying thing and all…) Thanks for the review! Yay!

Kanashisa no Tenshi – I know not much happened but I had to set stuff up for later on. Yay! Winry is finally here! Sorry for taking so long to get he in the story. (sweatdrop) Yay! Fewer spelling mistakes! (does happy dance)

Vicious-loner – The style is going to stay pretty much the same, don't worry. I know the chapters are short but I'm working on it. Over the summer I'll be posting more, longer, chapters.

PsychoNeko15 – Yup!

Wolf in the mist – Thanks! Here'san update!

Achilea – I blame exams for the writer's block. School is finally over so hopefully the writer's block will go away..

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FaLlEn-AnGeL627 – Thanks 

Quezo Collette – Here's the next chapter!

jbonanosdad -  Thank you, here's the next chapter!

Charmed-Envy-Fangirl – I'll try to add in Envy. I havn't got the whole story planned out yet, so I'll see if there's someway he can come into the story.

DarkInuHanyou – Thank you

KawaiiTenshi –Yay! Thanks!

FruitsBasketFreak44 – sorry for taking so long to update! Than you!

Icewing alchemist – me too

Priestess kurumi inu's sister – Poor winry. Ed and Al never tell her anything.

girlgoneanime – Hee hee. The Elrics are sure in for it.

Legendary Chimera - Wrenches of DOOM! Lol. 

Rena – hank you. Hope you like the chapter.

So far I have 3 votes for angst and 2 for fluff. So I'll probably go for angst with the occasional bit of fluff thrown in. I don't know how well I'll write the fluff. I've never writen it before. Thanks to the people who voted!

I'm going theough some shit with a friend of mine so I'm really stressed out right now. This chapter will be angst. Fluff will come later.

'Well, this certainly isn't going well." Ed thought as he cautiusly observed Winry's shaking form. "W-Winry?" He asked reaching out to touch her shoulder, only to have her jerk away from his touch.

"Tell her Ed." Came the deceptively calm voice of the younger Elric. Ed looked back at Al, his desperate plea obvious in his amber eyes, despite knowing that Alphonse would not relent on the subject. He only ever called his older brother by his name when he was serious.

"Please?" Ed begged. He didn't want to see the look of pity he knew would cover the girl's face. All his life, pople had pitied him. He could take it from strangers, but not from her. Not from Winry.

Alphonse somehow managed to give his older brother a look that was a strange mix of sympathy and sterness, and shook his head. Ed sighed, knowing that there was no possible way he cold get around it. 'I was stupid to think I could get out of here without questions.'

"I'm sick" he stated simply. Winry looked up slightly, as if daring him to start talking again. Ed felt a sharp jab in his back from Al and took that as a hint to continue.

"I'm" Ed gulped, bracing himself for Winry's reaction. "I'm dying, Win." He kept his gaze fixed on the floor. "My body is shutting down. Colapsing in on itself. I don't know how to stop it. I don't even know how long I have. All I know is that if I don't find a cure, I'll be dead in under six months." Ed stopped, still steadfastly refusing to make eye contact with anyone.

Al let out a strange strangled sound halfway between a sob and a scream and collapsed onto his knees with a soft 'thump'. Winry gave a soft sniff and muttered just loud enough for the brothers to hear: "What are we waisting time for? You have research to do. The sooner I fix your arm the sooner you can find a way to get better."

Edward looked up at her suddenly. "Win…ry…" he trailed off. Winry simply stood up, tools in hand and a soft, sad smile gracing her features.

"Win?" Ed questioned.

Winry simply laughed softly. "Ever since you guys left, you've been doing dangerous things. You've never told me what you do but I know you constantly put yourselves in danger. You managed to win last time. Yu found the stone and got Al's body back. I don't se any reason not to belive you won't be able to do the impossible again."

Al looked up, eyes glassy. "You aren't worried?" he qustioned softly.

"Worried? Of course I'm worried.I always worry. I probably always will, but I can't stop you. If I did I'd probably be killing you. All I can do is hope that you'll be ok." She explained before looking back at the blond haired man infront of her. "Now, let's get working on this arm of yours."

"I don't know how you amnaged it Ed, but the central cluster of synthetic nerves is completely destroyed! I'm going to have to replace it all!" Winry exclamed disbelievingly.

Ed laughed nervously as Al attempted to feed him some soup. So far, with little success.

"Come on Brother! Eat!" Al said, exasperated to the point of wanting to rip his hair out.

"I'm not hungry Al! Besides, I ate a few hours ago!" Ed complained while trying to dodge the spoon.

"You ate half a piece of toast! Now if you don't stop fooling around let me feed you, I'm going to get Winry to pin you down so that I can force this down your throat!" Al growled, sounding suspiciously like his elder brother. Said brother simply roled his eyes and allowed Al to feed him.

Winry simply sighed, shaking her head, and returned to replacing the individual wires that made up the heart of the prosthetic limb. Part of her found it ironic that Al was acting so much like his rather over-protective older brother. The rest of her found it distessing; it took a lot to bring out this side of the younger, and usually more patient, brother. The fact that he had been acting like this ever since they had arived was not a good sign.

He was dying. Edward Elric, the untouchable. The Full Metal Alchemist. It didn't seem possible that the same boy she had seen so determined and strong before could possibly be the thin, fragil looking youth that sat in her kitchen, confined to a wheelchair. She still half expected for it to be a joke; but those wounds she had seen…those were no joke. The abnominal wound, had it been only inches further in could have caused massive internal damage. Needless to say, had that happened, he wouldn't have needed to worry about finding a cure for this sickness of his.

There had to be some way she could help. She wouldn't stand around and do nothing. Maybe Grandma would know.

"Hey Grandma?" Winry questioned, attempting to sound casual. She knew this was a longshot but she couldn't think of anything else

"Yes Winry?" the older wonam responded, glancing up only briefly from the automail she was working on.

"Do you happen to have kept any of Hohenheim's books did you?" the words tumbled out of her mouth fast enough that Pinako had to take a moment to process exactly what her grandaughter had said.

She stopped her work and looked up, her brow furrowed. "I…think so…" she answered slowly, wondering what in the world Winry would want with advanced alchemic texts.

"Could I have a look at some of them?" she asked in what she hoped was a non-suspicious way.

Pinako shrugged. "They're downstairs in the basement. In a box under the stairs." She explained, going back to her work.

"Thanks Grandma!" Winry grinned, before heading for the basement. It had worked! Maybe she'd be able to help Ed after all.

"damnit…" Ed muttered, running the temporary prosthetic arm that Pinako had given him to use.

The good news? He could actually move this one.

The bad news? The dexterity wasn't good enough for him to be able to do, well…much of anything. Including feed himself. Which ment that Al was still hounding him on how much he was eating. Edward shuddered. An overprotective Al was scary thing to deal with.

Still, in the end Ed really couldn't blame his brother. If it had been Al dying, he would probably be acting even worse.

"Hey Ed?" Winry poked her head in the door. Ed sat on the couch as best he could. "I finnished repairing your arm." She grinned at the blond haired alchemist, automail limb cradled in one arm.

Ed grimaced slightly. "Already?" he found himself wondering, not for the first time, just _why _it had hurt so bloody much to have the automail atached. He let out a groan. "Let's get this overwith."

Winry looked around, slightly confused."Where's Al?" she questioned. In all their time there, she had yet to see the younger Elric leave his brother's side for more than five minutes.

Edward's face softened. "He fell asleep. About half an hour ago. He's been staying up to late trying to make sure I'm alright. He's upstairs right now"

Winry's heart went out to Ed. The guilt was written plainly on his face. Edward had never liked to trouble people, especially those he cared for. The fact that his brother was working so hard to make sure he ws alright was something he couldn't stand. Unfortunitly, he couldn't very well protest, given his current state.

Winry came into the room, followed by Pinako. "Winry, go wake up Al. We'll need him to hold Ed down." The older woman comanded.

"Do we really have to wake him up? He's pretty tired."Ed asked quietly.

"Sorry Ed, but we'er going to need help for this. Especially since your injured." Pinako's stern expression softened slightly.

Pinako disconected the spare prosthetic arm from the automail port as Winry went to fetch Al.

"Brother?" Al muttered sleeply, Rubbing his eyes.

Pinako looked up at the younger Elric. "We're reconecting his automail. We're going to need your help."

Alphonse, now looking far more awke, came to stand next to his brother, ready to help when the time came. He had done this many times over the years. His response was almost automatic now. Winry and Pinako set up the arm carefully, checking to make sure every thing was conected correctly.

"You ready Ed?" Winry questioned

"Ready as I'll ever be"

As the automail nerves connected to his own, Edward wasn't given the chance to cry out, much as may of liked to. He had passed out.

"Ed!" Al cryed out, sounding frantic.

"Move him to the couch" Pinako ordered sternly. Winry sighed, having expected this. The combined stress on his body from both beung sick and the automail had been to much for him to handle.

"Al, can you check to see if he has a fever?' Winry asked absentmindedly, while covering Ed's uncontious body with a blancket. Al shook his head. "He doesn't have a fever?" Winry asked, surprised.

"That's not it." He murmered just loud enough for her to hear. "He's been running a fever for the past week. He won't let me do anything about it though." Worry and guilt were evedent in his eyes.

Winry stopped, mid-movement. It was finnally hitting home that Ed really might not survive. That a month from now, he might not be there. Slowly she turned toward Al.

"This is really happening, isn't it?" she questioned, desperation was evedent in her face.

Al glanced at his brothers still form. "Yeah. It's really happening." He murmured. "It's hard to believe" he finally looked up at Winry. "Isn't it?"

"Why?" the blond girl asked, voice quivering. "Why him? After all you two had to go through, why couldn't it be someone else?"

"He said it was because he had to form the stone inside his own body. He did it because…because he wanted me to have mt body back. He said that…he knew it might happen, but went through with it anyway." Al looked down again. "All of this. Is because of me."

A/N: Sorry for taking so long (chuckles nervously). Exams are so evil. Anyway, I'm finally free, so expact more updates.


	12. Chapter 12

Sorry about the wait Minna-san. I was trying to plot out the next few chapters. That plus a convention last weekend (I cosplayed as Temari) means that I can finally get started on this next batch of chapters.

Your toaster: Yeah, I know the fainting thing was predictable but…meh. I need to go back and rewrite the last chapter. Thanks for the review.

ChibiAzn3: Yay! You're back! Thanks for reviewing!

ed-is-a-shorty: WAAAA! (Hides) don't kill me!

Molly: Yay! I updated!

RealNutcase: I'm really not trying to kill Ed off! Lol. I just want there to be a very real possibility of him dying in the end. I like the irony of Ed dying from some disease he can't stop 'cause he's proved that he can do almost anything when it comes to overcoming physical problems (like getting Al's body back). A sickness is one of the few things that, realistically, could bring him down.

Vicious-Loner: Another vote for angst!

FaLlEn-AnGeL627: thank you!

Birth of Venus: Thanks!

Audre vampire of Drow: Thank you! It still surprises me whenever I get more than 5 reviews on a chapter.

FMAFreak129: Ed isn't going to die! I like him too much. Besides, Al would be sad (I'm an Al fan girl, I admit it).

Zion: Thanks! I am not killing off Ed though. Yay! I finally updated! Good luck with your story!

Legendary Chimera: Thank you! I love the bond between Ed and Al. they're both so dedicated to each other.

FruitsBasketFreak44: I'm not killing off Ed. Thank you! Sorry I took so long to update.

RoseOfSharon28: Thank you!

Silver-Wind scar: Life is evil like that, isn't it? They work hard to simply survive and fix what they did wrong and in the end, life screws them over anyway.

Charmed-Envy-Fangirl: Sorry for the wait. As I said earlier, I had to do the planning for the next few chapters.

Priestess kurumi inu's sister: Thanks!

Thank you for all your wonderful reviews. I dedicate this chapter to all the people who have reviewed. Especially those who reviewed for multiple chapters. THANK YOU!

Chapter 12

I am in the process of editing the previous chapters of this story. Mostly for spelling errors. The only part I will be rewriting is a scene from last chapter that I am really not happy with. None of the information will change; I just want to change how it's written.

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Riza Hawkeye was many things. She was stern, careful, and meticulous when it came to work. She could shoot a bull's eye from 100 feet away. What she definitely was _not,_ was stupid.

And the Colonel knew that. He may not have actively acknowledge it, but it was a well known and a rather obvious fact.

So just _why_ he'd been surprised when Hawkeye had come to ask him about the well being of one Edward Elric, escaped him completely. He had proceeded to inform her that he was recovering from his injuries as well as could be expected and was off having his auto mail replaced. She had, in reply promptly snorted, pulled out her gun and fired three shots into the wall beside his head.

Yes, Riza Hawkeye was not one to mess with when it came to people she cared about. Like the rest of Mustang's staff, she cared about those boys more than she would ever admit.

So it was little wonder that Roy did what any other sane person would have done when faced with an angry blond 1st lieutenant.

He gave her what she wanted. And, of course, she had not liked his explanation that Ed was sick. His office wall had received several new bullet holes to prove it. Roy sighed. He was not looking forward to the conversation he was going to have to have with the blond haired alchemist once he returned to central.

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Winry walked quietly into the room that they had moved Ed into. And since Al had yet to leave his elder brother's side, it was where Al was at the moment as well.

Walking over to Al, she whispered, "Hey Al, I was talking to some of the women in town and their saying that there's a faith healer or something that's passing through. They say that he can cure people that doctors can't help. I was…I was thinking maybe we could take Ed to him when he wakes up." She finished.

"Brother doesn't believe in God, remember?" Al looked up at the young mechanic "What good will a faith healer do for someone who doesn't believe in faith?"

"Do you believe?" Winry questioned, sitting in a chair next to Al.

Al shrugged. "I don't know. I've never really thought about it, to be honest. Mom never really talked about it when we were kids either."

Winry smiled at Al softly. Al was the little brother she'd always wished for as a kid. He was part of the family. So was Ed, just…not in the same way. Somehow she couldn't imagine Ed as a brother like she could Al. She didn't know what she thought of him really. All she knew was that thinking about him made her heart flutter oddly.

"It couldn't hurt, could it?" She asked standing up.

Al looked up at her again. "I guess not.

"Oh! That's right. Grandma had some old books of your dad's in the basement. I thought maybe you and Ed might be able to do something with them." She grinned, placing the books on the nightstand next to the bed. "Night Al. Try to get some sleep. Okay?"

Al nodded as she left the room. Maybe Winry was right. This faith healer couldn't make things any worse. Maybe it really was worth a try.

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Ed groaned as he finally regained consciousness. Refusing to open his eyes, he attempted to turn over but found himself irritatingly unable to do so. His eyes snapped open, determined to find out what was limiting his movement and correct it so he could lie how he wanted. And get rid of those irritating blankets. He was _hot_ dammit. Glancing around the room, he noted that the only one around was Al, asleep in a chair nearby.

Looking down, he noted that the pale blue bedspread that had been used to cover him had been tucked in firmly enough that it allowed only room enough to breath and nothing more. Well, _that_ had to go. Struggling as well as he could with a broken arm, he managed to loosen the blankets enough to sit up properly. Pushing off the blanket, he stood up, testing his freshly installed auto mail. Turning around, he picked up the bedspread and draped it over Alphonse's sleeping form. Just because _he_ was sick didn't mean Al had to be.

His auto mail ports didn't hurt as much as he expected them to, though it made him wonder how long he'd been asleep. Walking felt wonderful, despite knowing that he risked opening up his injuries. Looking himself over, he realized that he had been stripped down to his boxers at some point and began searching the room that he and his brother shared whenever they stayed at the Rockbells'. Finding only his black pants and red jacket, he sighed. He wasn't about to go waking Al up when he was finally getting some sleep. He had been staying up late lately, wanting to make sure Ed was alright.

Wait a minute…what were his father's old research journals doing up here? He'd thought all of them had been destroyed when they burned down their house…Ed shrugged, picking up one at random. Lying down on the bed again, he began to read.

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Al woke to the sound of muffled cursing and turning pages. Opening his eyes, he realized that his brother had woken up while he was asleep. 'Finally. He's awake.' He let out a sigh of relief.

"Hello Brother." He mumbled, letting Ed know he was awake. Ed looked up, a slightly strained smile plastered on his face.

"Hey Al, sorry I woke you up." He chuckled nervously. Closing the book he had been reading, he slowly dropped the smile. "Hey Al? How long was I out?" his tone of voice suggested that he wanted to sound as if he didn't care, but couldn't quite pull it off.

"Almost a week. Winry thinks that your body couldn't take the added stress of having the auto mail reattached when you're already so sick." He explained. "Brother…"Al started, "Winry says that there's someone in town that might be able to help you. She says that he's been able to help other people." Al hid a grimace. So he'd left out that it was a faith healer. It wasn't that big a deal right? It was a minor detail. But if that was true, why did he feel like he was lying?

"Have you met him?" Ed asked, apprehensive about letting a complete stranger know about what was happening to him; But Al was a good judge of character. If his brother said he was okay, than he'd go with it. He trusted Al.

"No, but Winry called him and he's agreed to come talk to us and to look you over. To see if he can help." Al explained.

"When?" Ed could feel himself growing more tired. He fought to stay awake.

"Two days from now." Al looked up as Edward's eyes began to droop. "Go back to sleep Brother. I'll wake you up for supper." His only answer was a tired mumble before Ed fell asleep again.

Standing up, Al sighed. He covered his brother's still form with the blanket and stood at the end of the bed.

"If there is a God, please help him." He mumbled, hunching his shoulders. "Please help Brother, because I'm not sure anyone else can."

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A/N: I know it's short. The way I have this story planned out, there are probably going to be between 5 and 8 more chapters. I may change that later though.


	13. Chapter 13

Here's the next chapter. Review responses are at the bottom I apologies for the long wait. Without further ado, here chapter 13.

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To say Al was nervous about the faith healer's arrival would be a vast understatement. Ed, even as sick as he was, could tell something was up. He'd known his brother for sixteen years. He could tell when Al was hiding something.

Not that it was that difficult to tell. Winry kept on avoiding the subject of the healer whenever Ed brought it up, wanting more information. Winry never had been very good at hiding things from the two brothers, Ed in particular. But Winry's behavioral patterns was something that he rarely thought about. Winry, Ed had decided, was like all other girls: impossible to comprehend or predict. He'd stopped trying to figure out why Winry did the things she did a long time ago. It was probably the reason he was still sane.

Ed, now capable of some movement on his own, had managed to hobble over to the familiar wooden table and had been pouring over as many of his father's books as possible. Al had left about fifteen minutes prior to collect the healer.

Ed glanced up from the numerous leather-bound journals that were scattered in seemingly random piles to look at Winry, who sat at the other end of the table, working on Den's automail paw.

"Hey Win, who is this 'healer' guy anyway? You still haven't told me much about him other than what you've heard in town. Have you met him?" Ed questioned, smiling lightly. It was easier, he had discovered, to act as if he weren't sick. While it didn't fool his overprotective younger sibling, it did tend to ease Winry and Aunt Pinako's fears. Ed ignored the nagging voice in the back of his head that told him that he did it for himself as much as anyone else.

Winry's hands paused for a moment before going back to work. Shrugging her shoulders, she muttered, " I haven't talked to him myself. Al was the one who went into town to see him. From what I hear though, he's very good. Almost a- a miracle worker or something." She stumbled slightly over the last bit. Ed's brows furrowed, puzzling over Winry's choice of words.

"Miracle worker…" he mumbled. His eyes widened in realization before standing up, leaving his books abandoned on the table. "Al…" he growled under his breath as he stormed from the room on slightly unsteady legs.

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"Al!" Ed called out, as he stalked into living room. Al glanced up from a pile of notes he'd been reviewing, his expression deceptively innocent.

"A priest?" Edward growled. "You got a god damn priest?" his tirade was cut short by a set of body-wracking coughs. Ed hunched over, one arm brought up to cover his mouth, the other was wrapped protectively around his stomach.

"Brother!" Al rushed over to his sibling shaking form. He carefully guided his older brother to the couch. Ed let hold him upright, despite the anger and frustration he could feel uncoiling in his stomach.

Once the coughs finally stopped, Ed cast an almost hurt look at his younger brother.

"A priest?" Ed asked, greedily gulping air into his starved lungs. Ed kept his eyes fixated on the floor. "Al, you know I don't believe in that stuff. I don't want some phony old man chanting gibberish at me, trying to 'cure' me when I could be doing something useful."

The guilt that Al had been feeling about hiding the true nature of the healer tripled. He had _known _how his brother felt about things like this, but he had gone and agreed anyway. Wincing, Al muttered, "Technically Brother, he's not a priest. He's a faith healer." Ed's form sagged forward slightly, as if trying to collapse on itself. Alphonse placed a hand on Ed shoulder. "Brother, I know you don't approve of this kind of thing, but maybe it'll work. It could make it any worse. I-" Al sighed, shoulders slumping. "I haven't been able to find anything in those books. Neither have you, and you're getting worse everyday. We- Winry, Aunt Pinako and I, We're desperate Brother. I won't just watch you di-" Al stumbled over the word, unable to voice it out loud. "If there's even a chance he could help. Even if it's just telling us what's happening. What's going to happen."

Ed looked at where Winry was sitting at the table. Even she was in on this? "I know what's happening. First my internal organs start breaking down. Then my muscles will start getting weaker. I'll probably start losing my memory. My motor skills will get worse and worse. I'll get so that I won't be able to talk. Eventually, I'll be confined to a wheelchair, unable to even think. Then my heart will probably give out or something." Ed let out a humorless laugh. I'll be seventeen and dying of heart failure. How pathetic is that?" Ed took a shuddering breath and finally looked at Al. For the first time, Al could see just how terrified Ed was. "You're right Al, even after all this research, we haven't found anything. I haven't got a clue what to do. This isn't something I can fight. All I can do is sit here a wait to die." Ed sighed, closing his eyes in order to suppress the tears that were threatening to overflow. "But I don't want some wackjob coming here telling you guys he can cure my by 'the power of god' when he really can't do anything." Ed left out that he didn't think _he _could take being liedto about something like that.

"Brother _please_! Give it a chance at least. Maybe he really can do something. If he can't, we won't be any worse off than before. He's coming by later today anyway, at least here what he has to say." Al begged. He knew Ed was violently apposed to this, but he wasn't going to give on this. And if this faith healer had even a small chancing of helping Edward, than he wanted to go through with it.

Ed sighed. He knew that voice. He didn't have to look at Alphonse's face to see the look of desperation and determination he knew he would find there. After years of having only his brother's voice to go on, Ed had gotten good at deciphering Al's different tones of voice. Al wouldn't give up on this one. It would be best to just go along with this, however painful it may end up being.

Running a hand through his messy blond hair, Ed sighed. "Alright, fine." He stood up slowly. "The nut job healer is gonna be here at about two, right?" Al nodded. "I'm gonna get some sleep until then, alright Al? Don't bother waking me up for lunch." He said, slowly walking up the stairs and out of sight.

Al sighed, wanting to collapse back into the couch. The weight of Ed's explanation was only now hitting him.

"_I'll be seventeen and dying of heart failure."_

His brother didn't expect to survive the next six months.

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There was a firm knocking on the front door. Al sat up suddenly on the couch, where he'd dozed off. Opening the door, he was greeted with a young man, probably in his late twenties, with dark blond hair pulled back in a ponytail at the base of his neck. Light brown eyes glistened behind slim silver glasses. He wore a pair of plain brown slacks along with a white button down shirt. He shifted his grip on the weathered leather handbag he held and pushed his glasses further up his nose. The young man smiled almost nervously.

"Um…Hello. I'm Achim Harzmann. A Miss Winry asked me to come by to have a look at a friend of her's?" he explained, shifting his wait from one foot to the other. Al blinked for a moment before processing what Achim had said.

"Oh! Come in! Winry's out doing a tune up on a customer's automail. My name is Alphonse. My brother's upstairs; he's the one that needs your help." Al explained quickly, while moving out of the doorway so that Achim could enter the house.

As the young healer entered the house he threw a curious glance over his shoulder, looking at the military officers who had taken to camping on the Rockbell's front lawn (much to the house's occupant's annoyance). "

If I may ask…" Achim trailed off. Somehow, it seemed to Al, that he wasn't used to having to use such polite language, though why that may have been puzzled, the young alchemist. Still, Al had learned to trust his instincts over the years. The healer seemed nice enough. Achim continued after a short pause, "If I may, why are there Military officers in the yard?"

Al chuckled. "There for Brother. Since he's so sick, the decided it would be a good idea for them to send him with some protection. Apparently he's pretty important to the higher ups in Central." Al commented as he led Achim through the house to a small sitting room.

Achim nodded. "Oh, who would you're brother be then?"

Al's eyes widened as he realized that he hadn't explained who Ed was yet. "He Edward Elric. You've probably heard of him. He's the full metal alchemist." At Achim's nod, AL explained, "Brother is upstairs. I'll go get him and bring him down." Offering a weak smile, Al walked off in the direction of the stairs.

Once Al had left the room, Achim chuckled, running a hand through his hair. "Looks like this is the pipsqueak after all. Good. And here I was thinking I got the wrong place."

Several minutes later, a rather tired looking Edward entered the room followed by a relived looking Al.

"Brother, this is Achim Harzmann. The healer I told you about earlier. Mr.Achim, this is Edward, my older brother." Al introduced.

"Please to meet you Edward." Achim greeted warmly. Ed's eyes narrowed slightly. 'That voice…I know that voice. But know I've never met this guy before…" Edward's defenses were automatically raised. Ed returned the blond man's greeting before sitting down in one of the chairs, next to his younger sibling. 'I don't know who this guy is, but he gives me a bad feeling.'

"Now Edward. What exactly is wrong? You'll have to tell as much as you know about this illness of yours. Hopefully I'll be able to help." Achim smiled.

"As far as I can tell, my body is slowly breaking down. At the moment, it's starting to destroy my immune system and my internal organs. It'll eventually start breaking down the rest of my body until my body can't function anymore." He explained, leaving out just how he'd contracted his unique illness.

Achim raised an eyebrow. "Is that it? Do you know how you acquired this illness of yours? I need to know everything you do. And it seems that you know quite a lot about this illness." Ed shuddered slightly. Familiarity itched at the edge of his consciousness. It was as if he had heard the voice before somewhere. He blocked out the taunting voice in his head that pointed out that maybe he'd miscalculated about how far along his illness was, and his mind, along with his memory, were already starting to deteriorate.

"That all…" Ed replied, trying to ignore the scolding look that Al shot him. 'I'm not about to go off telling some random nut job that I got this from performing human transmutation.'

Achim chuckled. 'Pipsqueak still doesn't know what's good for him.' Opening his small bag, he explained "I'll need to do some tests before I can tell if this is something I can help with. I may be healing through spiritual means, but I still need to know if this is something I can help with."

Ed scoffed quietly. "Trust me. You can't help," he muttered under his breath, not expecting Achim to hear him.

Achim looked slightly amused. "Not a believer kid? You'd think you'd have a little more faith since you came to a faith healer."

"Winry and Al were the ones who thought you might be able to help. I'm just going along with this. So do your damn test and be done with it." Edward scowled.

"Brother!" Al scolded his sibling for his rudeness but Achim simply smiled good naturedly, shrugging off the comment. Fishing around in his bag, he extracted a plain silver cross, a needle, and a vile of what appeared to be water.

"Now if you'll allow me, I'll take a small sample of blood before I go on with my other tests. When did not object, Achim stood, walked over to where Ed was sitting and began searching for the vein.

Ed glared at the needle as it entered his skin.' Something about this guy isn't right. If letting him stick around will help me figure it out, I'll put up with his stupid 'tests'. I don't know who this guy is, but I _will _find out'


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